Kamal Guha at 12:37, 4 August 2023

2023-08-04T12:37:33Z

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The '''Dharmamangal''' ({{Lang-bn|ধর্মমঙ্গল}}) is an important subgenre of [[mangalkavya]], with narratives of local deities of rural Bengal, the most significant genre of medieval [[Bengali literature]]. The texts belonging to this subgenre eulogize [[Dharmathakur]], a folk deity worshipped in the [[Rarh]] region of [[Bengal]]. According to tradition, the earliest poet of ''Dharmamangal'' was Mayura Bhatta.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mukherjee|first=Sujit|title=A Dictionary of Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCJrUfVtZxoC&pg=PA94&dq=Dharmamangal&hl=en&ei=DCTWTKjwAsyHcduh5K4L&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Dharmamangal&f=false|volume=Vol.I|year=1999|publisher=Orient Longman|location=Hyderabad|isbn=81-250-1453-5|page=94}}</ref> The Dharmamangal texts were meant for singing during the twelve-day ritual ceremony, known as ''[[Gajan (festival)|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.<ref name="sen">Sen, Sukumar (1991, reprint 2007). ''Bangala Sahityer Itihas'', Vol.II, {{in lang|bn}}, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, {{ISBN|81-7215-025-3}}, pp.110-79</ref>

==''Dharmamangal''==
The texts of the ''Dharmamangal'' comprise two narratives,
* the narrative of the Puranic king [[Harishchandra]], 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]] (17th century) and [[Ghanaram Chakrabarty]] (17th-18th century). Other poets of Dharmamangal include [[Khelaram Chakrabarty]], 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.<ref name="sen"/>

==''Dharmapuran''==
The texts of ''Dharmapuran'' begin with narrative of creation. The other narratives included in these texts are the narrative about [[Shiva]], the hagiographies of [[Matsyendranath|Minanatha]] and [[Gorakshanatha]], the narrative of [[Ganga (goddess)|Ganga]], the narrative of Sada Dom and Ramai Pandit, the description of the atrocities of Dharma in [[Jajpur]] and the narrative of king Harishcahndra. The significant poets of ''Dhramapuran'' or ''Anilpuran'' were Ramai Pandit and Sahadeb Chakrabarty.<ref name="sen"/>

==Liturgical works==
The most significant liturgical work is the ''Dharmapujavidhan'', ascribed to [[Ramai Pandit]] as well as to Raghunandan. Another liturgical text, the ''Yatrasiddharayer Paddhati'' is a recent work.<ref name=dasgupta>Dasgupta, Sashibhusan (1995). ''Obscure Religious Cults'', Calcutta: Firma K.L.M., {{ISBN|81-7102-020-8}}, pp.295, 400-1</ref>

==See also==
* [[Mangalkavya]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dharmamangal Topics}}

[[Category:Bengali-language literature]]

Dharmamangal - Revision history

Kamal Guha at 12:37, 4 August 2023