Manasa Mangal, Behula and the Snake Goddess
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 14
Palash Biswas
http://www.troubled
Indigenous life style and struggle for livelihood may not be
understood without the knowledge of aboriginal attachment with Nature
and Natural forces. East Bengal lower caste and out caste people
always had to fight against natural calamities, epidemics and famine.
They had no way to escape. They knew the ultimate Truth that the
Nature is the source of all energy for survival. They worshiped the
nature. They later worshiped the forces of nature. Maa Kali saved
them from calamities and epidemics. Shiva was the original god of
Indian aboriginal. More over, Manasa, the Snake Goddess had been
worshiped by the marginal peasants and aboriginal people in east
Bengal as we see the tradition of Snake Totem in vogue amongst
different aboriginal communities worldwide.
Our People, the Black Untouchables of east Bengal migrated to India
and are best known as the unwanted refugees, brought the legacy right
into the Heart of Terai in Nanital.
The rites as observed in connection with the worship of the serpent-
goddess Manasa differ widely in the different districts of Bengal,
but a careful analysis of these rites shows that they have originated
from a common source. The elements of difference which have developed
in the meantime are nothing but local factors and as such have no
intrinsic relationship with the fundamental factors.We, the people
from east Bengal followed our homeland tradition obviously.
According to Ashutosh bhattacharya of Calcutta Universiti(THE SERPENT
AS A FOLK-DEITY IN BENGAL), The Naga-Panchami, mentioned above, is
very widely prevalent here among all classes of Hindus. On this
occasion,
worship is conducted of the eight principal serpents of the
Mahabharata legend, or nine or forty-two serpents according
to the family tradition of each worshiper. Earthen images of
serpents with raised hoods, the number of which is determined
according to the tradition prevailing in each family, are made
and worshiped on this occasion. Worship in all cases is minister-
ed by the Brahmin priests without any scruple whatsoever. The
serpent-deity is also worshiped on the last day of the Bengali
month of Sravana as in other places of East Bengal; the worship
of the serpent-deity on this particular day is known as the
worship of Pat Visahari. In most houses, a pitcher representing
the serpent-deity is installed on the first day of the Bengali
month qf Sravana and worshiped up to the last day of the same
month, when it is ceremonially immersed. The house-wives,
young or old, are not allowed to go to their fathers' houses on
any account after the pitcher has been ceremonially installed
within the house. Though there is no dearth of watery
stretches in the above area, yet the boat-festival is seldom
celebrated here on such or any other occasions now-a-days.
Neither Nag-Panchami nor the worship of Pat-Visahari is
a matter of importance so far as serpent-worship is concerned.
From the archaeological discoveries of Paharpur in Dinajpur district,
which adjoins Maldah on the east and northeast, it is evident that
serpent worship was a highlv
popular cult in this area from as early as the eleventh century
A.D. Both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic serpent-images
have been discovered from there. In this area there is no perma-
nent serpent shrine anywhere. The worship is held once in the
whole year with great pomp. The orthodox Hindu serpent
festival known as Naga-Panchami is unknown here even among
tbe higher class Hindus. The last day of the Bengali month of
Sravana (July-August) , instead of the Naga-Panchami day, is
the day for ritual worship. The rites are conducted either at the
public places of such worship or in the houses of the individual
worshipers. Usually no image of the deity is generally made.
but on this occasion the earthen images of the eight principal
serpents of the Mahabharata legend (or sometimes of one
serpent, probably of Astika of the same legend) are worshiped.
In most cases instead of any image the milky hedge plant is
worshiped as the seat of the serpent-deity. Special offerings,
consisting of milk and fried rice and sometimes of milk with
banana kept in big-sized arum leaves, are offered to the deity.
In East Maldah the floors of rooms, verandah and the courtyards
are beautifully decorated with special designs of rice-paste draw-
ings resembling the winding gait of the serpent. In some places
the womenfolk abstain from taking food on that occasion. In
most of the Hindu families no food is cooked on that day. This
ceremonial or ritual abstinence of cooking is known as arandhan,
and is observed on other occasions also.
The Rajvamsi constitute the main population of Rangpur,
Cooch Bihar and Jalpaiguri districts. Serpent worship is also
practised among them with due pomp and grandeur. In the Raj
family of Jalpaiguri, which also belongs to the Rajvamsi clan,
idols illustrating the principal serpent legend are displayed on
this occasion when a large fair is also held. Sometimes the
festival continues when a large fair is also held. Sometimes
the festival continues for the whole month during which various
folk-entertainments are offered.
The Rajvamsi constitute the main population of Rangpur.
Cooch Bihar and Jalpaiguri districts. Serpent worship is also
practised among them with due pomp and grandeur. In the
Raj family of Jalpaiguri, which also belongs to the Rajvamsi
clan. idols illustrating the principal serpent legend are displayed
on this occasion when a large fair is also held. Sometimes the
festival continues for the whole month during which various
folk-entertainments are offered.
Barring a few minor exceptions, on the whole there is unity
in the rituals of serpent-worship in the districts along the
Ganges. Among them the western part of the district of
Murshidabad is naturally influenced by the district of Birbhum.
Elsewhere such as in East Burdwan, Hooghly, Howrah, Nadia
and 24 Parganas there is very little or no difference in ritualistic
observations of serpent-worship. In this part of Bengal there
are public places of worship of the serpent-deity in almost every
village where worship is held on the prescribed date, invariably
before a milky hedge plant which grows in size as years roll by.
People assemble there irrespective of caste and creed and offer
their worship without, however, making any animal sacrifices.
Sometimes the higher class Hindu women, instead of going over
to such places of public worship, perform the ceremonies at their
own houses with the assistance of the Brahmin priests. In that
case also a branch of the milky hedge plant will be invariably
kept upon a conventional type of earthen pitcher which will
form the chief object of worship.
I witnessed my friend Kumaresh succumbing to snake bite while we were
playing hide and seek game.We were small boys and girls. We used the
Pual gada, Rice Paddies thatch stocks or the Cow dung stores to hide.
Although, in the beginning we had enough land of grass and shrubs
around us and always welcomed dear and rabbits as playing partners.
but with fast cultivation, jungles evaporated very soon and we were
left without the grass, shrubs and jungle! The black cobras are
abundant in Terai of Nainital. My wife Sabita never sleeps in
Basantipur as she is so scared of cobras. We have black cobras
everywhere in and around our home. My youngest brother Panchanan
found one hanging just over his head. another brother Padmlochan got
one hanging with his leg. My nephew got on in his bed. Our servant
Jau Harijan found one asleep on his chest in the dark of the night.
My father invented on tied with the plough. Cobras, and specially
cobras are present here or there every time. But, luckily, no one was
bitten by Cobra. Rather my sister Bahnumati was bitten by other types
of snakes and was cured by the snake charmer Haju Sana. We were quite
accustomed to see black cobras in our garden, fields, veranda,
windows, avenues and around the tube well. Once I was thrashed by my
elder uncle jethamosahi as I was found asleep on the part of the wood
which was lying on a small nallah on the border of our home. It was
the most dearest place for the cobras as the Bamboo bushes are.
We were never afraid of cobras. But Kumaresh was bitten within
minutes of hiding. Hari Dhali could do nothing to cure him. He was
immersed in the rivulet with the boat made of banana stem. As
Lakhinder was with his living wife Behula.
Since my infant days, I have been witnessing the rituals of
worshipping the Snake Goddess. Ma kali, Sheetala, Banabibi and
Sheetala along with Ma Manasa have been worshipped in Basantipur from
the beginning. Shashthi and Sarswati were the other two goddesses
worshipped by our folk but it never happened a community affair. It
has always been a part of the sanskar dictated by the Brahmins and
always meant for the caste Hindus!
The districts of Dhaka, Faridpur and Bakherganj form
another distinct socio-cultural unit. The area known as Vikram-
pur, included within it, is the section most effectively influenced
by Hinduism in the whole of East Bengal, and has developed
certain rituals in the line more of Hinduism proper than of the
popular faiths. Serpent-worship is also a very well-developed
cult here, its rituals being more complicated than in any other
part of Bengal.
Among the people of the above area. The most important
serpent-festival is known here as Rayani, a word of doubtful
origin. Rayani can be celebrated at any time of the year. It
is indeed a very important social festival among the Hindus of
the above area though it is unknown elsewhere in Bengal. When
a child is born in a family a mental vow is taken by its head
to the effect that the snake-festival known as Rayani would be
performed on the occasion of its marriage or sacred-thread cere-
mony, if the child is a male and Brahmin or Vaisya by caste.
It is indeed a very costly affair. Therefore due to economic
reasons a greater part of its rituals is now being sacrificed though
only a couple of decades back the festival used to be celebrated
with all its complicated details. The worship is arranged to
be held two or three days before the actual sacred thread or
the marriage ceremony as the case may be. The celebration
of Rayani extends over a period either of five or two and a half
days according to the custom prevailing in each family, or, in
the absence of such a custom, according to the mental vow taken
for either of the above periods at the time of the child's birth.
In this connection, clay images of the serpent-goddess as big as
the image of the goddess Durga (three to four feet in height)
are sometimes built. On either side of the image are placed
three or four images of her associates. In front of these images
a row of idols representing the chief character of the principal
Bengali serpent-story are placed side by side, each on his or her
distinct seat. The snake-story is recited musically through the
night. Nobody dares to hold the marriage of his son or daughter
without performing this ceremony, because of the strong belief
that on failure to do so snakes will create trouble for the mar-
ried couple.
On the following day, before the image is immersed in the river, the
earthen snakes are taken
out of the image and placed in the house. People believe that
the dried earth of these clay snakes is an infallible remedy of
many incurable diseases, especially children's diseases. There
is one very interesting item among the objects of worship here,
which is nowhere met with now-a-days. This is known as
Karandi, which is worshiped along with the image and some-
times in lieu of it. It is made of Indian cork (shola) in the
shape of a small house, generally not more than two feet in
height. Coloured drawings of serpents, the serpent-goddess and
some characters with some incidents of the serpent-legend are
made on the conical outer roof and the flat outer walls. These
drawings are undoubtedly among the remarkable specimens of
folk-art in Bengal. After the animal is sacrificed its blood is
sprinkled on the Karandi which is sometimes preserved in the
house with the stains of blood on it, though more frequently
floated down the river on the immersion day. Besides the
Karandi there is another essential ingredient necessary for the
worship of the serpent deity. These are the tiny pictures (ghat)
made of clay and shaped in a peculiar fashion, like a thin pipe
with two snakes spreading their hoods on either side of it.
Sometimes a human face, obviously that of the serpent-deity,
is carved out of the upper part of the pipe. These pictures are
known as Kaitari Ghat. Though the word Kaitar in East Bengal
means pigeon, I failed to understand how this particular bird
could be associated with an object of serpent worship. These
pitchers are filled with corn and kept beside the image during
the ceremonies. Milk and bananas in vessels made of plantain
bark are placed in the Karandi as the special offerings to the
serpents. Eight kinds of fried foods such as pea, oil-seed and
other pulses form the special offerings for the eight principal
serpents of the Mahabharata legend.
The special feature of the serpent festival in this part of the
province is the rice-paste drawings (alipana) . The entire venue
of worship is decorated, with these drawings representing
serpents in various designs. Around these drawings other paint-
ings illustrating the chief incidents of the principal Bengali
snake-story are also drawn. Coloured powders are used in such
drawings. The entire floor of the room appears to be a picture-
gallery. From the first day of the Bengali month of Sravana
until the day of the worship, which falls on the last day of the
month, the principal snake story is recited in part every day
after nightfall before the assembly of villagers.
I was lucky enough to get a Padm Puran, Mangal Kavya at home when I
was literate enough to read and write Bengali. Mind you I had to
study in Hindi medium in the school. But it was mandatory for us to
learn Bengali and English at home.
I remember well Chechan Mandal,the living loudspeaker. Chechan means
crying. His voice was so loud that any body could hear him from
anywhere. Villagers in Basantipur would gather just for a single cry
for meeting from Chechan. He was as black as coal. He prepared the
prasad for different rituals and we hated it just because of his
blackness. But we loved the man as he always looked after us and
never denied any extra share demanded.
Mind you, West Bengal was never in the mainstream Hindu empire. It
was an isolated and abandoned zone for brahminical Hindus of ancient
times. The King of Banga sided with the kauravas in the epic war of
Mahabharata. the geopolitics has always been quite different fro rest
of India until the British made Kolkata the capital of British India.
It was never under the direct rule of Pathans or Mughals. Shersah was
the Subedar of Bengal who later overthrew Humayoon. Bengal was
governed by Nawabs. In ancient India, only connection was the
Buddhism. While the great Shasahanka ruled Bengal, even at that time
it was not the part of mainland. Bengal was considered as VANGA, the
land of Asuras.
Aboriginal people, the black untouchables lived in Bengal. The
religion as tribal or semi tribal after conversion into Hindutva.
During preindependence days, Gajan and Charak, were the main folk
festivals in Bengal. Modern Bengal is identified with goddess Durga.
But Bengal is known for Goddess Kali and Lord Shiva devotees since
ancient times. Sanskrit poet Jaidev and later, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
introduced Vaishnav cult during sen dynasty which may be also
recognised as a revolt against the Rule Of Manusmriti, imported by
the Brahmins arrived from kanyakubj. The Brahmins were themselves
imported by Ballal Sen, who is considered to implement caste System
in Bengal.
Bengal is a land full of rivers. It has never been as patriarchal as
focused on during British Rule due to Sati and other traditions of
Bengali Brahmins. The aboriginal people rather respected the women.
Women enjoyed a status of equality in the aboriginal social lifestyle
as well as in the traditional indigenous production system. thus, it
is not mere coincidentally that Bengalies worship Kali, Durga,
Manasa,and a number of other goddesses. Ganesh or Vishnu has never
been popular in Bengal.
We worship Ma Manasa, not the Nagraj, as rest of India does.In most
ancient Hindu religious texts Manasa is said to be the daughter of
Kasyapa, a famous sage, and Kadru, the sister of the serpent-king
Sesha. Unlike her uncle Manasa is still actively worshipped as a
goddess who protects and saves humans from snake-bites. Her cult is
most prevalent in Bengal where she is ceremoniously worshipped in
temples. She is also attributed with the powers of curing infectious
diseases like small-pox and of bringing wealth and prosperity. At the
onset of the rainy season, when the snakes are most active, she is
ritually invoked with sacrifices and offerings. She is probably a pre-
Aryan goddess but this tale is of more recent vintage and comes from
Bengal where she is most revered and tells how she gained recognition
for herself as a potent member of the Hindu pantheon.
My Thamma and other old women would lead the all female troupe to
sing in praise of mother Manas for days. It was pure folk tune. I
forgot the tune. I forgot all the songs of Ashtak, Charak, Gajan and
Doljatra. But my heart is full of the melody still today. They would
recite from the Panchali. they were illiterate but they remembered
the Panchali well.
Thamma was a very devotee woman. I may not mention all the goddesses
and gods and their incarnations , she used to worship. She was a
mobile Bangladesh for us. With her, we always felt the waves of
Madhumati, the river across Jassore and Faridpur and the heart and
minds of the people lived there.
Thamma was very particular with Manasa Puja. It related to the most
personal tragedy of her life.
Our second Grandfather was known for his leadership as the first,
Kailash Biswas was known for his militant image. He was the head of
his community and led scores of villages. I miss his name. All my
elders except Meeradi have expired. And I have lost the links with
other parts of the family migrated to West Bengal, I may not refresh
the memory once again.
The youngest grand father survived partition and died in his new
place Harishchandra pur.His name was Indra Nath. He captured the
family property after the death of my grandfather. My father and the
uncles were boys. Jethamosahi was a student of class six and father
had passed class two, while the tragedy struck the family. Eldest
Grandfather was no more. Second grand father was bitten by a Black
Cobra at midnight during Kali Puja celebration. They had to go to
another village on the bank of Madhumati near somewhere Itna Bajar.
It was a procession of hundreds of his followers and he was walking
in the middle. Strangely, the Cobra singled out him. My Thamma used
to say that it was predestined. snake bite is always predestined.
There were some snake charmers with the procession. They did the
instant rituals prevalent in those days and continued the journey. In
the mid river, grandfather felt the stings full of poison. They
returned, but in vain. Within three months of the death, my own grand
father Umesh followed his brother just out of shock and Indra Nath
took over everything. The parents of Thamma looked after the family.
but they were themselves a poor lot who used to believe that Boars
are better relatives as they would plough your land. They could not
stop neither the partition nor the transfer of the property by our
youngest grand father. Meanwhile Jethamosahi and Chhoto kaka joined
police. They were in Kolkata during Direct action. my father also
left east Bengal as the partition seemed inevitable. he landed in
Duttapukur near Barasat and worked in a Cinema Hall as gate keeper.
I visited the destroyed hall in 1973. The family reunited in Sealdah
Railway station as refugees in 1948.
Owing to wide prevalence of the cult among all classes of
people in East Bengal, a very elaborate and complicated ritual
has developed in this area with regard to its observance.
Though the modes of worship are fundamentally the same, yet
they differ in detail to a considerable extent. There is little
difference in ritualistic observances of this cult in the area
covered by East Mymensing, West Sylhet and North Tippera.
This area can be accepted as a social and cultural unit. The
annual celebration of serpent-worship is held here on the last
day of the Bengali month of Sravana when the whole of the
above area is practically covered by a vast sheet of water over-
flowing from the Assam and Surma Valleys. People irrespective
of caste and creed build clay images of the snake-deity and
worship her at their own houses individually with sacrifices
either of goat or of pigeon. The Vaisnavas (the worshipers of
Visnu) who do not take meat, offer the goddess sacrifices of
sugar-cane, pumpkin and other vegetables. The image has two
or sometimes four arms; two clay snakes spread their hoods on
either side of her shoulder.
Mangal Kava was the lats thing the black untouchables created in
Bengal. This is the richest part of the rural ballad, Geetika. Poet
jasimuddin spent years to collect them. No less as a personality like
Abbasuddin accompanied him in his research. We know the role of the
two giants as far as the folk culture of Bengal is concerned. Even,
we may not imagine Ruposi Baangla By Jibanand das without this
tradition of Mangal Kavya.
Of all the animals held in worship in different parts of
India, the serpent is the most important. Its cult is widely dis-
tributed throughout the whole of India from Kashmir in the
north to Cape Comorine in the south, though it is more popular
at the latter place. The cult as prevalent in Bengal is somewhat
different in character from what it is in the other parts of North
India. Among the common run of people both in Bengal and
in the south the cult has retained its primitive character to a
very great extent. Roughly speaking, in North India the image
of a serpent considered male in character and known as
Nagaraja or the king of the snakes is held in worship, and in
the south it is the living snakes to whom worship is often offered.
Instead of the "king of the serpents" and the living snakes, an
anthropomorphic serpent goddess known as Manasa is worshiped
in Bengal. An exclusive cult known as the Manasa-cult has
developed in this part of the country and is highly popular
among all sections of the Hindus, especially among the lower
classes in some areas.
Even before I got admission in School. I had to encounter with the
Snake Goddess. She was not only worshipped by our people, but our
village Basantipur had a Jatra Troupe, which staged the Bhasan, the
drama form of Manasa Mangal. The female characters including Manasa,
Behula and Soneka were played by boys. kartick Kaka was selected as
Lakhinder. A boy was imported from Durgapur to play Behula. As a
child I visited his home situated amongst Rice Paddies. In earlier
seventies, with liberation of Bangladesh they left the place and the
known destination was Bangladesh.So many people left Terai in those
days! All the Barishal people living in Vijay nagar, Netaji Nagar ,
Haridashpur, Anand Khera and some Faridpur people from Pipulia left
for Bangladesh.Every village was affected by this migration. But
Basantipur was unaffected. No one from Basantipur left us. My father
was very sad that so many people left the colonies. he was specially
shocked with the departure of Jatin Biswas, the only individual in
Dineshpur other than us, hailing from Jassore.
Thus, I forgot the Behula actor. I forgot so many of them. Ishan
Dhali used to play Manasa. later he became a devotee of Ma Kali. Our
people believed that he could invoke the saviour Goddess. Later his
family also left Terai. They wer four brothers. The elder one left
the village just after 1964.He registered himself as refugee once
again and got rehabilitated in Lakhim Pur Kheri. Second brother Anata
dhali was the first Home Guard in our area. He was also a good
character artist in Jatra. Their father Hari Dhali was very close to
me. Bhushan Dhali was the third son of the oldman. The entire family
shifted to Lakhimpur Kheri in eighties.
But I never forgot Ishan Dhali. His wife was a beautiful girl from
Chandipur and was worried very much while I was staying in Nainital
as a college student and there was a forecast of destruction for
Nainital. She was one or two year older than me. But we had very good
family relations.
Hari Dhali was also a snake charmer who could treat snake bite with
his mantra. We had another snake charmer in and as Hajoo Sana. He was
treated as a family member in every household and we called him ,
Dada. He used to play comic characters in the Jatra party. But he was
a very serious snake charmer and was well known amongst all
communities in Terai. later, his popularity mad him a drunk. He died
in late eighties.
Hari Dhali with another village elder Baradakant Mandal led in every
performance of rituals and worships. The Idol were created by Vijay
Bhaskar fro Panchananpur. He was a man perfect in sculptor. He was in
demand. He also used to make the idol of Goddess Durga in Dishpur,
the only Puja celebrated by the Bengalies landed in refugee colonies
in Dineshpur Area. I knew very late about the Pals in Kumordanga, in
our ancestral village in Narail, Jassore. The pals were also the
specialists of Patua, the clay culture in West Bengal. I was very
keen to follow every stroke of the Brush of the Bhaskar. I spent
hours in the pandal and always witnessed him finalising his creation.
It continued while I went to the Highschool. it was always very
concentrating experience of pleasure for me. Later, while I was a
student of DSB college in Nainital, stayed with Mr Sadanand Guha
Majumdar in his hotel at Mal road, Bengal Hotel. He worshipped
Goddess Kali. I got Vijay Bhaskar and Bhuvan Chatterjee, our Purohit
in Basantipur, both in Nainital.
SNAKE bites kill an estimated 25,000 people a year. More people die
from snakebite in India than in any other country in the world, with
the total death toll estimated I to average 10 - 12,000 annually.
According to ecologist Monojit Dey, construction of houses by
clearing forests and filling up ponds could be one reason why snakes
were entering residential areas. Rampant catching of frogs for export
could have upset the ecological balance and driven snakes to human
habitations. Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers in paddy
fields was also disturbing the snakes.
My friend Vivek das and his family worshipped the snakes most. they
would never witness any snake killing which was a routine in Terai.
They always believed that one of their ancestor has been a Snake.
With the introduction of a local treatment protocol the snakebite
mortality in West Bengal has been reduced by nearly 35 per cent over
the past one year.Informing this, the state Minister for Health and
Family Welfare Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra said that the initiative has
helped the state government save Rs 59 lakh.According to the
Minister, while the number of victims being treated during the last
one year has gone up, the new treatment protocol has meant that
20,000 less units of Anti Snake Venom (ASV) vials were used in the
past year.
The success was possible after a snakebite task force, constituted at
the Snakebite Research Unit at Midnapore Medical College in September
2006 introduced an uniform and correct protocol for snakebite
management.
Normally medical education relating to snakebite comes from Western
textbooks, which provides non-applicable guidelines to doctors
treating snakebites in India. A local protocol was therefore
developed for use by doctors in the state.
In addition to providing the correct first-aid treatment methodology,
the protocol gives a clear dosage guidelines, as well as information
on also when to administer ASV and instructions on when to repeat and
when to stop. The protocol also reduces the period of stay of a
patient in hospital.
"Previously many victims who did not need ASVs were administered the
dose due to lack of proper information. In some cases they were
administered high doses while in others repeat doses were given where
it was not at all necessary," Mishra said.
In West Bengal about 18,000 snakebite cases are reported every year
and according to the Minister the state government can easily save up
to Rs 12 crore with proper administration of ASVs.
On the other hand, Snake charmers in Kolkata and other parts of West
Bengal have said that they are on the verge of starvation following a
government order to ban the keeping of snakes.
"From the time of my father, grandfather, we have been in the snake
charming profession. The law has banned this tradition but we
continue with the trade to make a living," claimed Lalu Sapuria, a
snake charmer.
The Government banned the keeping of snakes as pets under the
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The Act also prohibits snake charmers
from catching snakes or using them for entertainment.
Voluntary groups, however, say snake charmers are a part of the
country's heritage and insist that their traditional knowledge should
be preserved and developed as a modern science.
"In India, some 800,000 people are associated with the tradition of
snake charming. In West Bengal, there are 100,000 snake charmers. The
snake charmers are backward. They have no voter identification cards
or ration cards. We have tried to bring them under one organization
to help them," said Raktim Das, an organiser of the Snake Charmers'
Federation of India.
Snake charmers are demanding the right to catch snakes and to sell
venom of theses reptiles to snakebite antidote manufacturers.
According to the World Wildlife Fund survey on the occasion of
Nagpanchmi, some 70,000 snakes die of pneumonia, lung infection,
sepsis and milk allergy.
Snake Charmer (sapurey) group of people who handle the snakes by
music and other activities. However, the snakes usually do not
respond to any aerial sound. Snake-charming is a full time profession
for some and a part-time job for others. It is traditionally a family
business and the art of snake charming is passed on from one
generation to the other. The secrecy behind it is well-guarded.
Most people belonging to the ethnic group of bedey or Bangladeshi
gypsy are known as snake charmers. These people lead a life on boat.
In some families bedeyni (women bedey) do the job. There are others
whose only profession is snake charming. They keep a number of snakes
in boxes, gunny bags and earthen pots, carry these from one weekly
market place to another or get stationed in one town market for
months and then move to a new destination where there is always
congregation of people. Average snake charmers do not catch the
snakes on their own but buy it from the professional snake-catchers.
All of them are likely to keep a number of snakes in their
possessions. The most favoured species are the cobras and pythons. In
addition they keep many non-venomous snakes.
There will be no snake charming without cobra mainly because it can
raise its head to an appreciable height and inflate the hood
displaying its spectacular pattern. As the charmer plays his flute
and keeps chanting 'mantra' at the same time moving either his head,
elbows or knees the cobra sways its raised hood and body to fix its
vision towards the moving object and not to the music. The cobra is
teased to attack the snake charmer. Once the snake fixes its
attention to the object it dares attacking it either with open mouth
or amidst production of loud hissing noise.
Most snake charmers exhibit those snakes whose poison fangs have been
removed so that the charmers can receive bites without the risk of
getting venom. Such snakes also fail to eat their usual diet of live
food because they can not utilize their poison gland for paralyzing
the preys and die within 6 months or so. This is the reason snake
charmers must get replacement snakes every couple of months. It may
be noted that often the successive teeth behind the uprooted poison
fangs of cobras some how get attached with the poison gland.
Therefore, these so called 'fang-less' cobras' bites become fatal for
the snake charmers themselves. Most snake charmers ultimately die
from the bite of such 'fang-less' snakes. A few extremely daring and
professional snake charmers will keep poisonous snakes with fangs.
Some of them sell amulet (Tabiz) or herbal medicines as protection
against snakebite.
In one section of the Mangal, the heroine Behula offers Puja to the
clay image of the goddess who is known as Bisahari:
Having disembarked at the shrine
The dancer Behula bathed and did Puja to Hara's daughter
Behula did Puja for three days before the clay image
Of Bisahari, Kejuya's lotus.
It is clear from several other references that Behula worships clay
images of Manasa in riverside shrines.
Manasa-mangal (late 15th; Ban- gla) of Bijoy Gupta: also known as
Padma-purana (Manasa is also called Padma because she was born in a
lotus pond). MANASA HAPPENS TO BE The Goddess of Snakes in Medieval
Bengali Literature.Mangal kavyas are auspicious poems dedicated to
rural deities and appear as a distinctive feature of medieval Bengali
literature.
Mangalkavya , lit. "poems of well-being") is a genre of Bengali
language epic poems written in the 13–18th centuries. They depicted
the social customs of the era and also were devotional paeans to the
local deities. Mangalkavya were used to describe the greatness of
particular Hindu deities known as "nimnokoti" (roughly translating as
lower) by historians, because they were absent or unimportant in
classical Hindu literature such as the Vedas or Purans. These deities
were based on indigenous to Bengal (like Manasa) who had become
assimilated in regional Hinduism. These deities are often depicted
with unusually strong human qualities and they engage in direct
interaction with humans. They are also portrayed to have flaws such
as envy like other human beings.
The form of the Mangal kavya was a new one, and quite different from
the narrative poetry of Sanskrit.The Manasa Mangal Kavya, one of the
earliest epics, shows a human hero holding out with fortitude against
the tyranny and relentless fury of the gods. One of the important
characteristics of the ethos of the people of Bangladesh that runs
trough their cultural consciousness is the mood of resistance. The
mood of resistance and the pride with which they assert the value and
dignity of the human self, a salient feature of the contemporary
poetry of Bangladesh, can be traced back to the old Bangla
literature. The Manasa Mangal Kavya, one of the earliest epics, shows
a human hero holding out with fortitude against the tyranny and
relentless fury of the gods.
Mangal Kavya is a Type of verse in honour of a god or goddess in
Bengal. Most mangal-kavya tell how a local deity established his or
her worship on earth. They are often recited at the festivals of the
deities they praise. Some have become so popular that performers sing
them to entertain village audiences. Many variants exist, since each
singer is free to change the verses. Most are written in a simple
couplet form, using earthy imagery drawn from village, field, and
river.
The Mangalkavyas depict the conflict between these indigenous and
alien deities ending with the victory of the indigenous gods. The
word "Mangal" also means Vijay (victory), and the poems were written
to celebrate the victory of the local gods over goda worshipped by
foreigners. Many poems contain the word "Vijay" such as Manasavijay
by Bipradas Pipilai.
In the time period when they were produced, Mangalkavya was the
representation of nearly all medieval Bengali literature. Mangalkavya
was the main form of expression in the Later Middle Period of the
language.[1]
Manasa, Manasha) is a Hindu folk goddess of snakes, worshipped mainly
in Bengal and other parts of northeastern India, chiefly for the
prevention and cure of snakebite and also for fertility and general
prosperity. Manasa is the sister of Vasuki, king of Nagas (snakes)
and wife of sage Jagatkaru (Jaratkaru). [1] She is also known as
Vishahara (the destroyer of poison), Jagadgauri, Nitya (eternal) and
Padmavati. [2]
Her myths emphasize her bad temper and unhappiness, due to rejection
by her father Shiva or sage Kashyapa and her husband and the hate of
her stepmother Chandi (Shiva's wife, identified with Parvati in this
context). Manasa is depicted as kind to her devotees, but harsh on
people who refused to worship her. [3] Denied full godhead by her
mixed parentage, Manasa's aim was to fully establish her authority as
a goddess and to acquire steadfast human devotees. [4]
Behula, a faithful wife, featured in the Manasar bhasan,. also called
Manasa mangal in its more lengthy narrative form.Behula (is the
heroine in the Bangla epic of Manasamangal. Manasamangal was written
between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. Though its religious
purpose is that to glorify the Hindu goddess of Manasa, it is more
well known for depicting the love story of Behula and her husband
Lakhindar. Lakhindar's father, Chand Sadagar, angers Manasa, who
causes Lakhindar to be bitten by a snake on his wedding night, though
he and Behula are enclosed in an iron made house. Behula sails alone
with her husband's dead body on a boat. She finally appeases the
goddess and brings Lakhindar back to life.
Behula continues to fascinate the Bengali mind, both in Bangladesh
and West Bengal. She is often seen as the archetypal Bengali woman,
full of love and courage.
Originally a Adivasi goddess, Manasa was accepted in the worship of
Hindu lower caste groups. Later, she was included in higher caste
Hindu pantheons, where she is now regarded as Hindu goddess than a
tribal one. [5] She was then recognized as a daughter of sage
Kashyapa and Kadru, the mother of all Nagas. By the 14th century,
Manasa - the goddess of fertility and marriage rites - was
assimilated into Shiva's pantheon. Myths, such as those which arose
from Samudra manthan, glorified Manasa, who saved the Shiva after he
drank poison. Manasa was then venerated as the "remover of poison".
Her popularity grew and spread in southern India as well and
began "to rival" Shaivism. In reaction, stories attributing Manasa's
birth to Shiva emerged and thus Shaivism adopted the indigenous
goddess in the Brahmanical tradition of mainstream Hinduism.
The villagers of Bangladesh sing:
Snake Charmer / Babu Selam Lyric and Music Jasim Uddin dance by
Shibli & Nipa
O babu, many salams to you
my name is Goya the Snakecharmer, My home is the Padma river.
We catch birds
we live on birds
There is no end to our happiness,
For we trade,
With the jewel on the Cobra's head.
"We cook on one bank,
We eat at another
We have no homes,
The whole world is our home,
All men are our brothers
We look for them
In every door….."
(Jasim Uddin)
Many references supporting the existence of dance forms in ancient
Bengal are to be found also in literature. In the story on Behula,
given in the Manasa Mangal Kavya, we come across an instance of a
housewife of the soil of Bengal dancing in the court of Lord Indra,
the king of the Gods. In Vijaya Gupta's Manasa Mangal there is a
description of Ananda-Tandava dance of Shiva.
Manasa the goddess of snakes, also known as the goddess of
agriculture. Basically a folk goddess, Manasa was later incorporated
into the Vedic pantheon. According to the puranas, the hermit
Kashyap, commanded by brahma, composed the snake mantras and out of
it was born Manasa. She is the sister of the snake king Basuki; her
husband is Jaratkaru and her son Astik. She is also known as
Jagatgauri, Shaivi, Vaishnavi, Nageshwari, Siddhayogini etc. She is
pictured as a fair-complexioned goddess, who wears a red dress. Her
face is round, calm and serene. Mounted on a swan, Manasa is flanked
by snakes. Manasa Puja is observed on the Nagpanchami tithi (the
fifth day of the lunar month) in Asadh.
Snake worship is an ancient and widespread religious practice in
Indian customs. The cobra is associated with the Lingam the emblem of
lord Siva who is an Indian god.
Snake worshipping is an ancient religious practice in India. On
Nagapanchami Day, the day of the serpent festival, people offer eggs
and milk to snakes. This festival is celebrated by many Indians. On
this day, the people worship snake gods with flowers, milk and eggs
in front of their idols in temples.
In Karnataka, villagers even go to worship the termite mounds where
cobras are believed to be residing. In Bengal some people wrap snakes
around their bodies and march along the seashore. In Bihar people
roam about in boats in the rivers and with the image of Behra, a
young bride whose piety saved her husband from death by snake bite.
In Bihar, the Santhal tribes christen their young girls as `Visha
kanya' meaning girls with poison. They carry on their necks an
ampoule of snake venom and a nail to forstall any attack on her by
miscreants. Seals bearing snake symbols can be found in the ancient
sites of Harappa and Mohanjodaro. The Jain temples of Rajasthan and
Gujarath depict Lord Mahavira performing penance with serpents
gliding over his body.
Innumerable shrines containing images of the snake king Vasuki bear
eloquent testimony to the influence of serpent on the social and
spiritual fabric of India.
In Hindu mythology we come across several episodes centering on
snakes. When the ocean of milk was churned for the recovery of
ambrosia, snake king Vasuki served as a rope and was tied around Meru
mountain. The poison `Kalakuta,' which emerged from the ocean, was
about to pollute the whole universe. But lord Shiva consumed the
poison emitted by the serpent to prevent the destruction of the
earth. Due to the strength of poison his throat became dark blue in
colour. For this reason Shiva got another name: Neela kandha ( Blue
Throat).
Snake worship is widely spread all over the world. The ancient Greeks
worshipped the sun and snakes. The kings of ancient Egypt had images
of a Cobra and a vulture on their crowns. In Tibet there is a belief
that the rivers and lakes are abodes of snake gods and that their
king `Lu' lives in a crystal palace at the bottom of a lake.
Cobras are poisonous snakes but they will protect harvests from the
attack of rats, rodents and by eating
them.
In Shetphal, a village in Sholapur district in Masharashtra, the
houses have a resting place for a live cobra in a raft in the
ceiling. A copper image of seven hooded cobra over a Shiva idol also
adorns a temple.
In a village called Moribund, nearly twenty kilometers away from
Delhi, there are many snake charmers and their families. They have a
sort of a snake charming university, and they also have a union
called All India Snake Charmers Association.
In Kerala there are many temples exclusively for snakes. The main
temples are Pampummaikatu and Mannarsala. On the day of star Ayilliam
[Cancer] people usually offer eggs and milk for the snakes for
obtaining their blessings. In Pappinissery in Kannur district in
Kerala there is a beautiful snake park. One can see different
varieties of snakes there.
Manasa Mangal, (Bipradas Pipalai 1545 AD) a medieval Bengali classic
about the serpent-goddess Manasa. These stories related to mythology
are the main elemnets of the Pat-chitra culture.
Patuas, like the kumars, started out in the village tradition as
painters of scrolls or pats telling the popular mangal stories of the
gods and goddesses. For generations these scroll painters or patuas
have gone from village to village with their scrolls or pat singing
stories in return for money or food. Many come from the different
villages of Bengal. The pats or scrolls are made of sheets of paper
of equal or different sizes which are sown together and painted with
ordinary poster paints. Originally they would have been painted on
cloth and used to tell religious stories such as the medieval mangal
poems. Today they may be used to comment on social and political
issues such as the evils of cinema or the promotion of literacy.
Mangal kavyas are auspicious poems dedicated to rural deities and
appear as a distinctive feature of medieval Bengali literature.
Mangals can still be heard today in rural areas of West Bengal often
during the festivals of the deities they celebrate, for example
Manasa puja in the rainy season during July-August when the danger of
snake bite is at its peak. Interestingly, it is the Mangal stories
connected with this particular art form that provide us with some of
the earliest clues about the worship of clay images in Bengal.
The two most famous poems in this respect are the Chandi Mangal and
the Manasa Mangal. In the Chandi Mangal of the Bengali poet
Mukundarama Chakravarti (16th c), known as Kavikankana, the village
goddess Chandi takes on the form of the Puranic deity
Mahisasuramarddini (Durga) before the startled eyes of the hunter
Kalketu and his wife.
In Ketaka Das's Manasa Mangal or poem to the snake goddess Manasa
dating from the 17th c, the term 'mrinmayi' meaning 'earthen' occurs
unexpectedly in several places. Mrinmayi refers in this context to
the earthen or clay image of Manasa, a form in which she is still
worshipped to this day in Bengal. In his poem you often hear
about 'mrinmayi Visahari', Vishari meaning 'remover of poison', an
epithet of Manasa. It is unusual to find this rather technical term
mrinmayi rather than the more common 'mati' meaning 'mud'. Could it
be that Ketaka Das is attempting to elevate the status of Manasa and
her puja? By the time he wrote his poem, mrinmayi would have been a
term used to refer to the clay images of respected Puranic deities.
To say that Manasa was also worshipped in the form of mrinmayi, an
earthen image, would be equating her with goddesses such as Durga and
make her worship all the more attractive to those listening to the
Manasa Mangal.
In the Manasa Mangal the wealthy spice merchant Chando Shadagar is
reluctantly converted to the cult of the goddess Manasa after a
series of misfortunes brought upon his family by the goddess herself.
Initially Chando refuses to worship Manasa as he is already a devotee
of the great god Shiva. He insults Manasa by calling her a one-eyed,
unnattractive, bad-tempered girl. In retaliation Manasa destroys
Chando's ships and kills his six sons, but his wife gives birth to
another boy called Lakhindar.
Tha main part of the mangal concerns the fate of Lakhindar and his
bride Behula. Manasa warns that Lakhindar will die on their wedding
night. So Chando has an iron room built to keep out any snakes that
might kill his only son. However, Manasa persuades the architect to
leave a gap big enough for one of her deadliest snakes to squeeze
through at night and bite Lakhindar as he sleeps. Behula wakes up too
late to help her newly-wed husband.
The distraught Behula scolds Chando for his quarrel with Manasa and
returns her wedding gifts. Instead of cremating her husband's body
and scattering his ashes in the river as is the Hindu custom, she
sets off downriver in a desperate bid to persuade to gods to revive
her husband so that she avoids the fate of being made a young widow.
Further on, she visits the city of the gods where she meets the gods
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva who are impressed by her skills as a dancer
and washerwoman to the gods. Shiva decides to persuade Manasa to
revive Lakhindar and his six brothers in return for persuading Chando
to worship the snake goddess.
Shiva embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of a god of
ascetics and a god of the phallus. He is the deity of renouncers,
particularly of the many Shaiva sects that imitate him: Kapalikas,
who carry skulls to reenact the myth in which Shiva beheaded his
father, the incestuous Brahma, and was condemned to carry the skull
until he found release in Benares (now Varanasi); Pashupatas,
worshipers of Shiva Pashupati, "Lord of Beasts"; and Aghoris, "to
whom nothing is horrible," yogis who eat ordure or flesh in order to
demonstrate their complete indifference to pleasure or pain. Shiva is
also the deity whose phallus (linga) is the central shrine of all
Shaiva temples and the personal shrine of all Shaiva householders;
his priapism is said to have resulted in his castration and the
subsequent worship of his disembodied phallus. In addition, Shiva is
said to have appeared on earth in various human, animal, and
vegetable forms, establishing his many local shrines.Although all
Hindus acknowledge the existence and importance of a number of gods
and demigods, most individual worshipers are primarily devoted to a
single god or goddess, of whom Shiva, Vishnu, and the Goddess are the
most popular.
Worshipping snakes in India is an ancient ritual and is mentioned in
the Grhyasutra. Statues of snakes, dating as far back as the Indus
Valley Civilisation, have been found all over India. Several statues
of the deity, adorned with hood and decorated pitcher, have been
unearthed in places such as Satna, Dinajpur, and Rajshahi.
Birbhum in West Bengal has undoubtedly the largest number
of votaries of the serpent-deity Manasa. Any casual visitor to
the rural areas of this district will certainly agree with me
on this point. Even to this day the serpent-worship in Birbhum
is a very well-developed and living cult. Almost in every vil-
lage in this district a visitor will come across one or more serpent
shrines. These are but low mud-walled straw huts situated
within the house-quadrangles of some of the lower class Hindus.
Daily worship is offered in most of these shrines, where in-
variably a Hinduized aboriginal serves as priest and conducts
the worship. People of the various sections of the Hindu com-
munity ungrudgingly join the worship, though the educated
higher class Hindus generally disassociate themselves from it.
Such shrines are maintained by a class of priests known as
Deyasi or Dyasi, Sanskritized sometimes to Devamsi, meaning a
part and parcel of the gods, though the word is believed to have
been derived from Deva-vasi 'associate of a god'. But I think
the word has originated from some non-Aryan source. For in
southern India the word Deyasi is still very widely used in
rural areas to denote a headman, who may be said in a manner
to correspond to a Justice of the Peace. Due to the growing
influence of Hinduism, Brahmin priests are also requisitioned
on special occasions. Sometimes the maintenance of the serpent-
shrines is the only source of income of the Deyasis who also act
as exorcists in cases of snake-bite. It is rather strange that
the serpent-worship in the neighbouring districts of Birbhum
is neither as widespread nor as developed as it is in Birbhum
proper. The area of Murshidabad district which is contiguous
to Birbhum and falls west of the river Bhagirathi is however
an exception.
The serpent-shrines have no provision for the entry of air
and light from outside when the only door is closed after the
daily worship. Within in the darkness are installed on raised
altars the images of the serpent-deity known by various local
names at various places, e.g., Chintamani (literally meaning
a fabulous gem able to grant the possessor whatever he wishes),
Jalduburi (diver), Visahari (destroyer of poison). Padma,
Padma-kumari (lotus maiden), Budima (the old mother),
Dulaler Ma (Dulal's mother, and various others. A Bagdi. Kaot
or Mal. all Hinduized aboriginals. is entrusted with the dutv of
performing the worship, a duty which is adopted as an here-
ditary profession. On the raised altar within the shrjne are to
be seen three, five or seven earthen pitchers, with carvings of
hoods of snakes around them. The pitchers are covered with
a thick layer of vermilion which is being deposited on them
since the day of their installation some decades back. Very
rarely, however, one pitcher representing the deity is also seen,
but in all cases it must be an odd number. On the top of each
image are placed green leaves of the milky hedge plant
(Euphorbia lingularum), which are daily replaced at the time
of worship. Some times brass nails, offered by the devotees in
fulfilment of their mental vows, are stuck to the outer side of
the images. These nails are known as chik (one which glitters),
because they glitter in the dim light of the lamp which burns
within. The images are considered to be mutually related to
each other as sisters, and I have already stated that they are
also individually named. Numerous legends are in vogue in
connection with these earthen pitchers, which are worshiped as
the serpent deity.
The canon of Hinduism is basically defined with regard to what people
do rather than what they think. Consequently, far more uniformity in
behavior than in belief is found among Hindus, although very few
practices or beliefs are shared by all. Most Hindus chant the gayatri
hymn to the sun at dawn, but little agreement exists as to what other
prayers should be chanted. Most Hindus worship Shiva, Vishnu, or the
Goddess (Devi), but they also worship hundreds of additional minor
deities peculiar to a particular village or even to a particular
family. A few practices are honored by almost all Hindus: reverence
for Brahmans and cows; a prohibition on the eating of meat
(especially beef); and marriage within the caste (jati), in the hope
of producing male heirs. Although Hindus believe and do many
apparently contradictory things--contradicto
Hindu to the next, but also within the daily religious life of a
single Hindu--each individual perceives an orderly pattern that gives
form and meaning to his or her own life. No doctrinal or
ecclesiastical hierarchy exists in Hinduism, but the intricate
hierarchy of the social system (which is inseparable from the
religion) gives each person a sense of place within the whole.
Brindaban Das relates that at the time of Chaitanyadev, Manasa Puja
was performed with great fanfare with clay idols of the goddess. It
is still customary in many places of Bengal to worship Manasa by
offering milk and banana in a pot or at the foot of a tree called sij
(euphorbia nerrifolia). In some places, Astamangala is sung for eight
days after the puja. Musical plays based on Manasa are also held at
other times of the year.
Manasa has had a profound influence on the Hindu community. There are
many legends about her stressing that worshipping the snake goddess
will keep people safe from snakebites. Conversely, disrespect to her
brings catastrophe, usually in the form of the disrespectful person
being killed by a snake. The story of Behula-Lakhindar is one such
popular legend, narrating how Lakhindar was killed because his father
refused to acknowledge Manasa's power. The medieval manasamangal
epics, eulogising Manasa constitute an important genre of bangla
literature. Famous Manasamangal poets include vijay gupta and
bipradas pipilai. Decorated Manasa pots, depicting the snake goddess,
are a colourful form of folk art.
The ultimate canonical authority for all Hindus is the Vedas. The
oldest of the four Vedas is the Rig-Veda, which was composed in an
ancient form of the Sanskrit language in northwest India. This text,
probably composed between 1300 and 1000 BC and consisting of 1028
hymns to a pantheon of gods, has been memorized syllable by syllable
and preserved orally to the present day. The Rig-Veda was
supplemented by two other Vedas, the Yajur-Veda (the textbook for
sacrifice) and the Sama-Veda (the hymnal). A fourth book, the Atharva-
Veda (a collection of magic spells), was probably added about 900 BC.
At this time, too, the Brahmanas, lengthy Sanskrit texts expounding
the priests' ritual and the myths behind it, were composed. Beginning
about 600 BC, the Upanishads were composed; these are mystical-
philosophical meditations on the meaning of existence and the nature
of the universe.
The Vedas (including the Brahmanas and the Upanishads) are regarded
as revealed canon (shruti, "what has been heard [from the gods]"),
and no syllable can be changed. The actual content of this canon,
however, is unknown to most Hindus. The practical compendium of
Hinduism is contained in the Smriti, or "what is remembered," which
is also orally preserved. No prohibition is made, however, against
improvising variations on, rewording, or challenging the Smriti. The
Smriti includes the two great Sanskrit epics, the Mahabharata and the
Ramayana; the many Sanskrit Puranas, including 18 great Puranas and
several dozen more subordinate Puranas; and the many Dharmashastras
and Dharmasutras (textbooks on sacred law), of which the one
attributed to the sage Manu is the most frequently cited.
The two epics are built on central stories. The Mahabharata tells of
the war between the Pandava brothers, led by their cousin Krishna,
and their cousins the Kauravas. The Ramayana tells of the journey of
Rama to recapture his wife Sita after she is stolen by the demon
Ravana. But these stories are embedded in a rich corpus of other
tales and discourses on philosophy, law, geography, political
science, and astronomy, so that the Mahabharata (about 200,000 lines
long) is a kind of encyclopedia or even a literature, and the
Ramayana (over 50,000 lines long) is hardly less. Although it is
therefore impossible to fix their dates, the main bodies of the
Mahabharata and the Ramayana were probably composed between 300 BC
and AD 300. Both, however, continued to grow even after they were
translated into the vernacular languages of India (such as Tamil and
Hindi) in the medieval period.
The Puranas were composed after the epics, and several of them expand
on themes found in the epics (for instance, the Bhagavata-Purana
describes the childhood of Krishna, a topic not elaborated in the
Mahabharata)
praise, philosophies, iconography, and rituals. Most of the Puranas
are predominantly sectarian in nature; the great Puranas (and some
subordinate Puranas) are dedicated to the worship of Shiva or Vishnu
or the Goddess, and several subordinate Puranas are devoted to
Ganesha or Skanda or the sun. In addition, they all contain much
nonsectarian material, probably of earlier origin, such as the "five
marks," or topics (panchalakshana)
the universe, the destruction and re-creation of the universe, the
dynasties of the solar and lunar gods, the genealogy of the gods and
holy sages, and the ages of the founding fathers of humankind (the
Manus).
Mangal Kavyas
One of the most important features of
the mediaeval Bengali literature is
'Mangal Kavya'. The Mangal Kavyas
were regularly composed from the 15th
century to 18th century A.D. and even
much later. The impact of Mangal
Kavyas has been conspicuously felt in
the then Banga that is later divided
into present Bangladesh, and West
Bengal, part of Bihar, Assam and
Tripura of India. Even today, the
songs of Mangal Kavyas can be heard
in many rural areas of this north-
east Indian sub-continent part,
especially during the Hindu religious
festivals.
Manasa Mangal Kavya
It's amazing how beautifully the
poems of Manasa Mangal Kavya were
composed by the poet Bijoy Gupta that
he mixed all sorts of greatness such
as poetic rhythm, religious myth and
the folk juicy. Even after five
centuries, the demand of these
rhythmic poems and songs has not been
declined at all. What a fairy tale in
the form of poems, Bijoy Gupta
narrated the vanity of Chand Sadagar
disregarding the Goddess Manasa,
religious belief of his wife Soneka
to the Manasa and fate of his seven
sons one after another due to wrath
of the Manasa; then, how Behula came
to the scene rescuing the Sadagars
family having got back the lives of
her husband Lakhindara and her six
brother-in-laws; and finally, how all
of them started worship to the
Goddess of Manasa that has become an
inalienable part of the Hindu
Religion in this part of the world.
The Manasa Devimurti & the Manasa
Mandir
The Hindus pay worship to the Goddess
Manasa building her embodiment by
various materials. Poet Bijoy Gupta
established the first Manasa
Devimurti at his birth place of
Goila, Barisal that attracted people
for hundreds of years. Having had
devoted, the local worshippers built
a beautiful Manasa Devimurti with
brass in early twentieth century. The
Manasa Mandir (Temple) attracts daily
hundreds of people since its
inception till date. As such, in
spite of the religious dignity for
centuries together, the Manasa
Devimutri & Mandir has the great
importance equally in respect to
historical, cultural and hereditary
perspectives in Bangladesh as the
successor of the then Banga, the then
greater India, and of course of the
world.
The Devimurti looted by razakars
During the War of Liberation of
Bangladesh in 1971, as in all cases
brutally acted the local
collaborators of Pakistani Junta
hatedly known as `razakars ransacked
the Temple of the Goddess Manasa at
Goila and looted the invaluable
Devimurti, and that could not be
rescued by any means upon all out
efforts after the independence of the
country.
Impetus for rebuilding the Devimurti
The devotees, most of who were
refugees during the liberation war of
Bangladesh in 1971, though cowries-
less, built a makeshift Devimurti
with sand and cement, and they were
suffering from the deepest heartache
due to their inability to rebuild it
with brass. At last, recently, the
local people united and formed the
"Manasa Devimurti Rebuilt Committee"
to rebuild the Manasa Devimurti in
its original form along with a
secured Temple.
It is estimated an approximate amount
of US $18,000.00 would be required to
rebuild the Manasa Devimurti and its
secured Temple.
The people of northern Barisal,
Bangladesh have come forward to
contribute as much as they can do for
reestablishment of the Devimurti.
However, they feel that participation
at a greater sphere by devotees at
home and abroad will bring the
projects universality.
We would appeal to all devotees
around the globe to come forward in
contributing to rebuild the Manasa
Devimurti and its security
arrangement. On doing so, let us be a
part to protect our religious
establishment, history, culture and
heritage.
Manasa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iconography
She is depicted as a woman covered with snakes, sitting on a lotus or
standing upon a snake. She is flanked by a canopy of seven hoods of
cobras. Sometimes, she is depicted with a child on her lap. The child
is assumed to be her son Astika. She is often called "the one-eyed
goddess", as one of her eyes was burnt by her stepmother Chandi.
[edit] Legends
[edit] Mahabharata
The Mahabharata tells the story of Manasa's marriage. Sage Jagatkaru
practised severe austerities and had decided to abstain from
marriage. Once he came across a group of men hanging from a tree
upside down. These men were his ancestors, who were doomed to misery
as their children had not performed their last rites. So they advised
Jagatkaru to marry and have a son who could free them of those
miseries by performing the ceremonies. Vasuki offered his sister
Manasa's hand to Jagatkaru. Manasa mothered a son, Astika, who freed
his ancestors and also helped in saving the Naga race from
destruction when King Janamejaya decided to exterminate them by
sacrificing them in his Yajna. [7]
[edit] Puranas
Puranas are the first scriptures to speak about her birth. They
declare sage Kashyapa her father, not Shiva as in the Mangalkavyas.
Once, when serpents and reptiles had created chaos on the earth, sage
Kashyapa created goddess Manasa from his mind (mana). The creator god
Brahma made her the presiding deity of snakes and reptiles. Having
chanted mantras, Manasa controlled the earth. Manasa then had sex
with Shiva, who told her to please Krishna. On being pleased, Krishna
granted divine Siddhi powers and ritually worshipped her, making an
established goddess.
Kashyapa married her to sage Jaratkaru, who married Manasa on the
condition that he would leave her if she disobeyed him. Once when
Jaratkaru was woken by Manasa because he was late for worship he got
upset and deserted her. On the request of the great Hindu gods,
Jaratkaru returned to Manasa and they had a son named Astika. [8]
[edit] Mangalkavyas
The Mangalkavyas were devotional paeans to the local deities like
Manasa, composed between 13th-18th century Bengal. The'' Manasa
Mangalkavya'
Pipilai trace the origin and myths of the goddess.
According to Manasa Vijaya, Manasa was born when a statue of girl
sculpted by Vasuki's mother was touched by Shiva's semen. Vasuki
accepted Manasa as his sister and granted her the charge of the
poison that emerged when King Prithu milked the Earth as a cow. When
Shiva saw Manasa he was sexually attracted to her, but she proved to
him that he was her father. Shiva took Manasa to his home, where his
wife Chandi suspected Manasa to be Shiva's concubine or co-wife and
insulted Manasa and burnt one of her eyes, leaving Manasa half-blind.
Later, when Shiva was dying of poison Manasa cured him. At one
occasion, when Chandi kicked her Manasa made her senseless by the
glance of her poison eye. Finally tired of quarrels between Manasa
and Chandi, Shiva deserted Manasa under a tree, but created a
companion for her from his tears of remorse called Neto (Neta). [9]
Finally, the sage Jaratkaru was married to Manasa, but Chandi ruined
Manasa' wedding night. Chandi advised Manasa to wear snake ornaments
and then threw a frog in the bridal chamber at which the snakes ran
all over the place. As a consequence the terrified Jaratkaru ran away
from the house. After few days, he returned and they had a son called
Astika. [10]
Accompanied with her adviser Neto, she descended to earth to get
human devotees. She was initially mocked by people but then Manasa
forced them to worship her by raining calamity on those who denied
her power. She managed to compel people from different walks of life,
including the Muslim ruler Hasan, but failed to convert Chand
Sadagar, an ardent Shiva and Chandi (identified with Durga in this
context) devotee. In the process, Manasa killed Chand's six sons and
left him bankrupt. She also killed Lakhindar, Chand's eldest son, on
his wedding night. Chand's wife and widowed daughter-in-
coax him to worship the goddess. At last, he yielded by offering a
flower to the goddess with his left hand without even looking at the
goddess. But this gesture made Manasa so happy she resurrected all
Chand's sons and restored his fame and fortunes. The `'Mangal
kavyas'' say after this Manasa's worship became ever popular. [11]
Manasa Mangalkavya attributes her hardships in getting devotees to an
unjust curse she gave in her anger to Chand in his previous birth to
be born as a human, which retaliated with a counter-curse that her
worship would not be popular on earth unless he worships her. [12]
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and Sister Nivedita say that "[The] legend of
[Chand Sadagar] and Manasa Devi, [..] who must be as old as the
Mykenean stratum in Asiatic society, reflects the conflict between
the religion of Shiva and that of female local deities in Bengal.
Afterwards Manasa or Padma was recognized as a form of Shakti [..],
and her worship accepted by Shaivas. She is a phase of the mother-
divinity who for so many worshippers is nearer and dearer than the
far-off and impersonal Shiva.." [13]
[edit] Worship
Generally, Manasa is worshipped without an idol. A branch of a tree,
an earthen pot or an earthen snake image is worshipped as the
goddess. [14] She can be worshipped in the form of an idol or even as
a formless force (Kundalini). She is not only worshipped for
protection from and cure of snake bites but also of infectious
diseases like smallpox.
The cult of the goddess is most widespread in Bengal, where she is
ritually worshipped in temples. The goddess is widely worshipped in
the rainy season when the snakes are most active. [15] Also, Manasa
is specially worshipped on Nag Panchami - a festival of snake worship
during the Hindu month of Shravan (July-August)
observe a fast (vrata) on this day and offer milk at snake holes. [16]
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