Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c18.10

c18.10

¹ A similar image, but with four arms and without the lion emblem, was found near Dacca and has been tentatively identified by Bhattasali (Iconography, pp. 63 ff.; Plate XX) with Hārītī. Another form of the same primitive Mother-goddess with a child on her lap was conceived with a snake-canopy over her head and was worshipped both in Bihar and Benga. I found one such image on the bank of the Saṃsārpokhrī at Luckeesarai. In Bengal, this deity later came to be identified with the snake-goddess Manasā (cf. ibid., pp. 212 ff.; His. Beng., op. cit., pp. 460 f.); but that she was originally worshipped under different local names is suggested by the Marāil (Dinajpur District) image of the goddess known to have been called Bhaṭṭiṇī Maṭṭuvā.