DWAITA HAZRA GOSWAMI goswami.dwaita@gmail.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FOREST GODS AND GODDESSES ACROSS CLASSICAL TEXTS AND VERNACULAR TERRITORIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ARA\u1e46Y\u0100N\u012a, ARA\u1e46YA \u1e62A\u1e62\u1e6cH\u012a, AND BENGAL\u2019S REGIONAL FOREST-DEITY CULTURES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This paper explores the evolution and transformation of forest deities in the Indian subcontinent, tracing the trajectory from the Vedic personification of the wild to the localized, socio-cultural protectors of Bengal\u2019s agrarian and maritime fringes. At the centre of this study is a comparative analysis of the Vedic goddess Ara\u1e47y\u0101n\u012b\u2014the elusive, “incorporeal” spirit of the deep woods\u2014and the later Puranic and vernacular manifestations such as Ara\u1e47ya \u1e62a\u1e63\u1e6dh\u012b. While the classical Sanskrit tradition often frames the forest (ara\u1e47ya<\/em>) as a space of asceticism or liminal danger, regional Bengal traditions domesticate and negotiate this wildness through deities like Ol\u0101dev\u012b (regional Bengali goddess associated with cholera, epidemics, and protection from sudden diseases), Banabibi, (forest guardian goddess of the Sundarbans mangrove region of India\u2013Bangladesh),” Dak\u1e63i\u1e47 R\u0101y” (tiger-god and the supernatural lord of the Sundarbans forest). This study argues that the shift from the abstract Ara\u1e47y\u0101n\u012b to the ritualistic Ara\u1e47ya \u1e62a\u1e63\u1e6dh\u012b represents a transition from “Nature as Mystery” to “Nature as Sustenance.” By examining primary Sanskrit epics alongside Bengali Mangalkavyas and oral folk traditions, the paper highlights how “Vernacular Territories” create a hybrid theological space where Brahmanical structures and indigenous forest-dwelling belief systems overlap. The research aims to contribute to the DICSEP 2026 theme by demonstrating how the forest is not merely a setting for the Epics and Pur\u0101\u1e47as, but an active, deified participant in the legal and spiritual history of South Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This research employs a diachronic, philological approach combined with regional ethnographic analysis. First, the \u1e5agvedic Ara\u1e47y\u0101n\u012b-S\u016bkta<\/em> (10,146) will be analysed to establish the earliest conceptualization of the forest as a numinous, autonomous divine entity. This is then contrasted with the Brahmavaivarta<\/em>–Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> (Prak\u1e5bti-Kha\u1e47\u1e0da<\/em>), which serves as a textual pivot where the ‘wild’ is subsumed into the Brahmanical framework of domesticity and lineage protection. Finally, the study utilizes comparative vernacular mapping by examining Bengali Mangalk\u0101vyas (specifically the Cha\u1e47\u1e0d\u012bmangal) and Vrata-kath\u0101 oral traditions. By documenting the shift from the abstract Ara\u1e47y\u0101n\u012b to the ritualistic Ara\u1e47ya \u1e62a\u1e63\u1e6dh\u012b, the methodology seeks to identify how regional forest cultures negotiate space between classical Sanskrit orthodoxy and indigenous ecological realities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Primary Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Brahmavaivarta<\/em>–Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>. Prak\u1e5bti-Kha\u1e47\u1e0da<\/em>, Chapter 43.<\/p>\n\n\n\n K\u0101\u015byapa-Sa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/em>. Revat\u012b-Kalpa<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u1e5agveda-Sa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/em> 10,146 Ara\u1e47y\u0101n\u012b-S\u016bkta<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Primary Sources \u2013 Regional (Bengal)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ca\u1e47\u1e0d\u012bma\u1e45gal<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translations and editions of the primary texts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Doniger, Wendy, tr. 1981. The Rig Veda: An Anthology<\/em>. London: Penguin Classics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200bNagar, Shantilal, tr. 2003. The Brahma-vaivarta Pur\u0101\u1e47am<\/em>. New Delhi: Parimal Publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen, Sukumar, ed. 1955. Chandimangal<\/em>. Calcutta: Sahitya Akademi<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sharma, Hemaraja, tr. 2010. K\u0101\u015byapa Sa\u1e43hit\u0101, or V\u1e5bddha-J\u012bvakiya Tantra by V\u1e5bddha J\u012bvaka<\/em>. Varanasi: Chaukhambha Sanskrit Sansthan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondary Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bhattacharya, Asutosh. 1978. The Folklore of Bengal<\/em>. New Delhi: National Book Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feldhaus, Anne. 2003. Connected Places: Region, Pilgrimage, and Geographical Imagination in India<\/em>. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McDaniel, June. 2003\/2004. Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Niyogi, Tushar K. 1987. Aspects of Folk Cults in South Bengal<\/em>. Calcutta: Anthropological Survey of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nugteren, Albertina. 2005. Belief, Bounty, and Beauty: Rituals Around Sacred Trees in India<\/em>. Leiden: Brill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen, Aditi. 2014. Sasthi: Between the Forest and the Lying-in-Chamber. Journal of South Asian Studies<\/em> 24(2): 145\u2013162.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen, Sukumar. 1960. History of Bengali Literature<\/em>. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinha, Binod Chandra. 1979. Tree Worship in Ancient India<\/em>. New Delhi: Books Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DWAITA HAZRA GOSWAMI goswami.dwaita@gmail.com FOREST GODS AND GODDESSES ACROSS CLASSICAL TEXTS AND VERNACULAR TERRITORIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ARA\u1e46Y\u0100N\u012a, ARA\u1e46YA \u1e62A\u1e62\u1e6cH\u012a, AND BENGAL\u2019S REGIONAL FOREST-DEITY CULTURES This paper explores the evolution and transformation of forest deities in the Indian subcontinent, tracing the trajectory from the Vedic personification of the wild to the localized, socio-cultural protectors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2149","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2150,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2149\/revisions\/2150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}