A liminal deity is a god or goddess in mythology who presides over thresholds, gates, or doorways; "a crosser of boundaries". In Hindu traditions, liminal deities are also associated with tirthas, or holy crossing places, which function as spiritual thresholds in physical geography. These sites—often river fords, pilgrimage crossings, or transitional boundary zones—are linked to multiple gods and serve as sacred locations where the earthly and divine realms intersect. These gods are believed to oversee a state of transition of some kind; such as, the old to the new, the unconscious to the conscious state, the familiar to the unknown.