|
Page5
It is not
possible within the short compass of this book to trace the different religious currents
that have permeated Bengal from time to time. As a matter of fact, these religious
currents were not restricted to the confines of Bengal only. Jainism and Buddhism had once
saturated parts of Bengal. The various phases of Vaidik Hinduism, Saivism, Saktaism' and
Vaishnavism. had also deeply affected Bengal sometime or other.
In recent decades theism had been high lighted. But all these
currents have not been able to throw out such non-Vaidik deities like Dharma, Shitala or
Ola Bibi. The godlings of the Adivasis have still an upper hand so to say in the villages.
Bengal has accepted all these cur rents and in some way or the other there are temples
that show the impact of the different religious forces. The types of temples are also a
few. Some of them were indigenous to Bengal while some are the results of impact of
temple-types of other regions.
|
