Abstract
Indian Village Godlings.In an account of the cult of , a form of ‘demon worship’ prevalent in Eastern Bengal (J. and Proc. Asiatic Society of Bengal, N.S., vol. 26, No. 1), Mr. Chintaharan Chakravarti points out that no trace of the religious rites of the village folk of India, often very interesting, is found in any scriptural text, though the people retain palpable traces of undoubtedly ancient rites. In the cult of , or the Twelve Brothers, as observed in Kot in the district of Faridpur, the objects of worship are twelve brothers and their sister or mother. It is known also popularly as the cult of Van (the mother of the twelve brothers) or . The brothers are described as demons and terrible in appearance. Any displeasure on their part brings disease and calamity. Vanadurg has been described as a tree goddess, as her worship takes place under a tree and she has no separate image. There is no fixed time for the worship of these deities but it usually takes place on Tuesdays and Saturdays and in the day-time. Generally no images are made but there is an effigy of one of the brothers in a house in the village of Una. At Kot the worship is performed at the base of a big Avattha tree, the place being known as , or the place of worship of Ni. There is no provision for daily worship as in the temples. The rites of worship follow those laid down in the scriptures with regard to worship in general, except that the heads of the sacrificed animals are not taken back, but are left in the hollow of a tree. The mantras used are all in Sanskrit, and the whole worship has been made to conform to the Tantra form, the deities being given Sivaite implements and attributes, showing how a purely popular cult has been affiliated to Aryandom.
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Research Items. Nature 130, 135–137 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130135a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130135a0