Chandimangal
About this text
Introductory notes
The Chandimangal is a mangal kavya, or a narrative poem which tells the tales of deities who establish their cult among human beings. This popular genre in Bengali, influenced by regional cults such as that of Chandi, Manasa, Dharma, or Vaishnav songs, flourished from the thirteenth century to the eighteenth. However, mangal kavya poems appear to have been written until the start of the nineteenth century. The poems are typically written in the form of songs (panchalika) meant for performance by professional singers (mangal gayak) backed by a male chorus (dohar) during ritual worship of the particular deity who was the subject of the poem. The Chandimangal of Mukandaram Chakravarti was composed in the latter half of the sixteenth century in West Bengal, India. There are numerous manuscripts of this work in West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Assam, as well as early printed editions from the nineteenth century onwards. The most frequently used edition is Sukumar Sen’s which was based on a manuscript dated 1700, discovered by the editor. In this version, the text is divided into 14 palas, whose performance began on a Tuesday from noon to dusk, and continued from late evening till midnight. The performances lasted for a week, ending on the following Tuesday with the ashthamangal. The poem’s performative origins are evident in its rhyming verse, use of repetition, directions for using specific rhythms, musical modes, and dance forms.
The focus of Mukundaram’s poem is on his difficult times, human beings, seasons, and daily detail, rather than merely establishing the cult of the titular goddess. These broader themes and mundane socio-economic concerns are represented in our selections below. We have provided our own English translation which renders the text in prose as closely as possible.
Selection details
The focus of Mukundaram’s poem is on his difficult times, human beings, seasons, and daily detail, rather than merely establishing the cult of the titular goddess. These broader themes and mundane socio-economic concerns are represented in our selections below. We have provided our own English translation which renders the text in prose as closely as possible.