Dharmamangal
About this text
Introductory notes
Mangalkabya is a 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. Dharmamangala by Manikram Ganguly was composed in the later half of the 18th Century.
The present volume was published by Calcutta University in 1960. The book was edited by Bijitkumar Datta and Sunanda Datta, both were professors of Bengali at the University. The current edition is based on a manuscript discovered by Panchanan Mandal in Manikram's ancestral village, in present day Hooghly district of West Bengal. It has been determined that the poem was composed sometime in the second half of the 18th Century. Dharmamangal, keeping with the tradition of Mangalkavyas focuses on lives of villagefolks, seasons, and daily detail, rather than merely establishing the cult of the titular goddess.
Selection details
The present volume was published by Calcutta University in 1960. The book was edited by Bijitkumar Datta and Sunanda Datta, both were professors of Bengali at the University. The current edition is based on a manuscript discovered by Panchanan Mandal in Manikram's ancestral village, in present day Hooghly district of West Bengal. It has been determined that the poem was composed sometime in the second half of the 18th Century. Dharmamangal, keeping with the tradition of Mangalkavyas focuses on lives of villagefolks, seasons, and daily detail, rather than merely establishing the cult of the titular goddess.