The Dharmamangal () is an important subgenre of
mangalkavya, with narratives of local deities of rural Bengal, the most significant genre of medieval
Bengali literature
Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...
. The texts belonging to this subgenre eulogize
Dharmathakur
Dharmaraj (also called Dharma Thakur, Dharmaraj or simply Dharma) is a Hindu deity of death and justice, worshipped by villagers in the traditional Rarh region in the present day Indian state of West Bengal as one of their special village gods ...
, a folk deity worshipped in the
Rarh region
Rarh region () is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to various ...
of
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. According to tradition, the earliest poet of ''Dharmamangal'' was Mayura Bhatta.
The Dharmamangal texts were meant for singing during the twelve-day ritual ceremony, known as ''
Gajan''. These texts are part of a larger group of texts associated with the worship of Dharma. In addition to the ''Dharmamangal'' texts, this larger group includes a number of works known as the ''Dharmapuran''s, which narrate the story of creation and the liturgical works known as the ''Samjatpaddhati''s.
[Sen, Sukumar (1991, reprint 2007). ''Bangala Sahityer Itihas'', Vol.II, , Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, , pp.110-79]
''Dharmamangal''
The texts of the ''Dharmamangal'' comprise two narratives,
* the narrative of the Puranic king
Harishchandra
Harishchandra () is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the '' Aitareya Brahmana'', '' Mahabharata'', the '' Markandeya Purana'', and the '' Devi Bhagavata Purana''. The most famous of these s ...
, his queen Madana and son Luichandra. With the grace of god Dharmathakur, Harishchandra was blessed with a son Luichandra, with the condition that the son would be given away to the cult of Dharmathakur. Harishchandra forgot about the condition. Later Dharmathakur showed up as a Brahmin, and asked for the cooked flesh of Luichandra. Harishchandra and Madana killed Luichandra and served his flesh. Luichandra was later restored to life after the king and the queen accepted the Dharmathakur cult.
* the narrative of exploits of a folk hero of Bengal, Lausen.
Most significant poets of ''Dharmamangal'' were
Rupram Chakrabarty Rupram Chakrabarty ( bn, রূপরাম চক্রবর্তী) (c. 17th century) was a Bengali poet of the Middle Ages and one of the most significant contributor to Dharmamangalkavya tradition of mediaeval Bengali literature. His work, ' ...
(17th century) and
Ghanaram Chakrabarty Ghanaram Chakrabarty ( bn, ঘনরাম চক্রবর্তী; c. 1669–?) was a Bengali poet of the Middle Ages and the greatest contributor to the Dharmamangalkavya tradition of mediaeval Bengali literature. He was greeted by his guru a ...
(17th-18th century). Other poets of Dharmamangal include
Khelaram Chakrabarty Khelaram Chakrabarty ( bn, খেলারাম চক্রবর্তী; c. 16th century) was a Bengali poet and is considered the one of the earliest poet of Dharmamangalkavya tradition. His poem, ''Gourkavya'', which is now available only i ...
, Shrishyam Pandit, Dharmadas, Ramdas Adak, Sitaram Das, Yadunath or Yadavram Pandit, Maniklal Ganguli, Ramchandra Bandyopadhyaya, Narasimha Basu, Prabhuram Mukhopadhyaya, Hridayram Sau, Shankar Chakrabarty, Ramnarayan and Ramkanta Ray.
''Dharmapuran''
The texts of ''Dharmapuran'' begin with narrative of creation. The other narratives included in these texts are the narrative about
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...
, the hagiographies of
Minanatha and
Gorakshanatha
Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath, c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His follow ...
, the narrative of
Ganga
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
, the narrative of Sada Dom and Ramai Pandit, the description of the atrocities of Dharma in
Jajpur
Jajpur (also known as Jajapur) is a town and a municipality in Jajpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was the capital of the Kesari dynasty, later supplanted by Cuttack. Now, it is the headquarter of Jajpur district.
Etymology and ...
and the narrative of king Harishcahndra. The significant poets of ''Dhramapuran'' or ''Anilpuran'' were Ramai Pandit and Sahadeb Chakrabarty.
Liturgical works
The most significant liturgical work is the ''Dharmapujavidhan'', ascribed to
Ramai Pandit
This is an alphabetical list of all populated places, including cities, towns and villages, in the Tibet Autonomous Region of western China.
A
*Alamdo
*Alhar
* Arza
*Asog
B
* Baga
*Bagar
* Baidi
*Baima
* Baimai
*Baixoi
*Bamda
*Banag
*Ba ...
as well as to Raghunandan. Another liturgical text, the ''Yatrasiddharayer Paddhati'' is a recent work.
[Dasgupta, Sashibhusan (1995). ''Obscure Religious Cults'', Calcutta: Firma K.L.M., , pp.295, 400-1]
See also
*
Mangalkavya
References
{{Dharmamangal Topics
Bengali-language literature