Pabuji is worshipped as a folk-deity. He lived in 14th century (16th century is also mentioned) in a remote village known as Kulu in Rajasthan. Dhadal Rathore of village Kolu had four children: two boys, Buro the older and Pabuji the younger brother, and two girls, Sona and Pema. However, Pabuji was stated to be born to a nymph and as foretold by the nymph she was to return after 12 years as a mare to be with him. In his young age, Pabhuji fought against the Khici clan to evict them from his land that they had encroached and killed their leader, Jindrav Khinchi. During this period, he also acquired a black horse from Lady Daval and it is believed that this horse was in the reborn form of his own mother. He then went on to defeat Mirza Khan who was indulging in the killing of cows, which are held sacred by the Hindus and Muslim plunderer named Muslim marauder Mirza Khan Patan and also protected honour of the womenfolk.An eventful part of Pabhuji’s life was the marriage of Kelam, his favourite niece, to his friend, the snake deity of Rajasthan, known as Gogaji. At this wedding, while the wedding guests presented the couple with rich gifts (such as diamonds, pearls, an exquisite dress made from best cloth of South India, white cows, horses, elephants and so forth), Pabuji only promised her camels from Lanka (Lanka referred here is not the island of Sri Lanka, but refers to a kingdom west of the Indus River). He then went in search of a herd of camels to Lanka. After fighting and defeating the local ruler Ravana of Lanka, he then brought the herd of camels for his niece. When he was returning with the camels, he passed through Umarkot in Sindh (now in Pakistan). There, he fell in love with the princess Pulvati and after lot of persuasion married her.
The Kulu village where Pabhu was born, now has only two conventional but small temples within a courtyard, where Puja (worship) is offered to the Pabuji. This village was known as the "great village fortress of Kolu" and it included the shrine of goddess Daval. The deity has still not attained the status for universal worship through building of many other temples elsewhere. Hence, only small shrines and commemorative stones are found in and around Kolu. Another reason attributed to the inadequate representation in the form of many temples to Pabhuji is that the Bhopas are semi-nomadic and a traveling group who are not rooted to one place where they could build a temple for daily worship. Rabaris, also a semi-nomadic tribe and who are cattle herders of the region also revere Pabuji and consider it as the “myth of their origin”.
In villages of Rajasthan, Pabuji was considered an ascetic and hence his blessings were sought for veterinary services provided by his disciples, the Bhopas. He is also invoked to cure children possessed of spirits by driving away the djinn; this is done by tying an amulet created during the early hours of the morning, towards the end of the narration of the Phad, by circling a holy thread seven times around the flame and then seven knots.
The epic story of Pabhuji has been analysed by historians with respect to the other epic stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata and the conclusion drawn is that the Pabuji tradition is "one multilayered and collective narrative construction of different Rajasthani performers, transmitted in oral and written forms.
