The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c14.s6.39

c14.s6.39

The Bengali *Śūnya-Purāṇa* (c. 1050) has created the semi-Buddhistic gods and goddesses of all sorts. Rāmāi Paṇḍit’s *Dharma-Pūjā-Paddhati* is likewise cast in the mould of folk-Buddhism. In the *Dharma-mangala* of Ghanarāma (c. 1350 ?), Māṇik Gānguli and others, again, is encountered the *rapprochement* of folk-Hindiusm and folk-Buddhism on a common Tāntric foundation. Among the other folk-deities prevalent in medieval Bengal may be mentioned *Śītalā*, the goddess to propitiate against small-pox, and *Manasā*, the goddess against snakes. Many of these are directly or indirectly associated with the Śiva and Kālī (Chaṇḍī, Tārā, Ādyā) complex.