Author:

Samarjit Ghosh
Master of Arts
Department of History
University of North Bengal
Darjeeling,West Bengal,India

Email: siliguricollege.2014@gmail.com

Abstract: In Bengal’s religious culture a significant feature is a unique assimilation of Brahmnical religious culture with the non-Brahmnical faith. Through the process of assimilation of religion, the canonic god and goddess has been transformed into a mundane deities. Besides the transformed canonized status the mundane deities of Vedic, Buddhist and Jain religious are also surviving as demigods. One such Jain and Hindu demigod is Ghantakarna, widely worshipped in the Southern part of West Bengal. It is difficult to ascertain how the Jain god Ghantakarna had been transformed into a demigod Ghentu. This paper narrates that Ghentu is considered as a presiding demigod of several skin diseases like Itches, Psoriasis etc. and Ghentu is generally worshipped during the spring season in West Bengal. This paper seeks to delve deeper into this unique matrix, emphasizing upon the less known aspects of the worship of Ghentu veneration in the context of Science & Society, based on written sources.

Key Words: Canonical Gods, Mundane Gods, Ghantakarna, Ghentu, Worship etc.