The International journal of analytical and experimental modal analysis ISSN NO:0886-9367 The Art & Artisans of Tripura: Living Tradition of Goddess ―Manasa‖ Nilkanta Das Department of History of Art, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India [email protected] Abstract— Manasa, a snake goddess is predominant in Bengal. The goddess has given birth to a larger historical tradition which includes art, literature and music of greater Bengal. The development of snake symbology in Indian art is an ancient phenomenon. A particular genre of snake goddess principally developed in Eastern Indian provinces during the eighth to twelfth century A.D. “Svamgai bhattarakih” or “Sungai or Sunga Devi” has been identified with one or two image(s) of this genre. It is possible to locate the traces of worship or practices related to certain snake goddesses among Hindu, Buddha and Jaina religions in Bengal. Medieval snake goddess Manasa is identical with the previous tradition of Sunga or Sungai Devi. Rather it is a gradual tradition of image making among the artisans of Bengal throughout the history. Manasa is a continuation of larger historical art tradition yet the principles of iconography have slightly been changed. The distinctive form of Manasa differs from its artistic as well as literary sources. Tremendous cultural value has been added from medieval period with the publication and distribution of early Bengali literature Manasa-Mangal-Kavya (sacred text of goddess Manasa). Within the literary tradition of Manasa-Mangal the goddess has been identified as the daughter of Shiva, wife of Jaratkaru and queen of snakes. Hundred year old literary tradition of Manasa-Mangal may be known to the people through oral tradition before it got written down. This mythological tradition in the age of Hindu revivalism in Bengal was a process of the goddess‟s reincarnation. In late medieval period to the early colonial period names of more than one hundred and fifty poets have been found in the palm leaf manuscript of Manasa-Mangal-Kavya conserved in various manuscript research and conservation centres of Eastern India. The book or story of Manasa has been largely distributed and widely popularised among the Bengalis of Bengal, largely because of the advantage of colonial printing technology. In the present time the goddess Manasa among Bengali community is quite popular firstly because she is worshipped by a huge number of people, and secondly because any other aspects of cultural significance. Including the value of Manasa literature and music, the art forms of the goddess in the folk tradition of Bengal have become a subject of study. Every year, a huge quantity of earthen idols of the goddess is made during the monsoon, the season of the goddess‟s worship. Diverse forms of the goddess are sculpted by the artisans of Bengal. In context of its content, the diverse practices are identical in nature but regional „style‟ are distinctive. Bengalis of North-East have mainly migrated from Bangladesh to the Indian territory of Assam and Tripura primarily during the partition of Bengal (1947) and till the independence of Bangladesh (1971). Among them the living tradition of Manasa idol worship is a vibrant cultural expression. Apart from Barak valley region of South Assam, the state Tripura is also inhabited by a large Bengali community along with nineteen tribes of Tripura who have been living in Tripura for many centuries. In present time the celebration of Manasa worship is sometimes found to be even more splendorous than that of goddess Durga by Bengalis. In each subdivision of every District in Tripura the artisans continue to create earthen idols of the goddess every year. A detailed study of the art forms of Manasa, and the artisans of the state, their practices are the main concerns of this paper. Keywords— Sungai devi, Manasa, Bengali Tradition, Folk art, Tripura. I. INTRODUCTION It has been found that a particular snake goddess in ancient Bengal has existed with glory.1 More than hundreds of stone and bronze images of the goddess are identified with a particular genre. Those anthropomorphic images of snake goddess dated from tenth to twelfth century are conserved in various museums of Eastern India and some are in abroad. This particular tradition of stone and bronze images of the goddess belongs to the Pala and Sena dynasty of Bengal. The oldest name of the goddess associated with this tradition is that of Sungai, Svabgai, or Svamgai bhattarakih, found in a Nepali stone inscription belonging to 11th century A.D.2 Pictorially the goddess is always seated under the expanded hood of the snake. Both two-handed and four-handed images of the goddess have been found.3 In the two-handed idol, it is found that either she carries a snake or the child Astikain her left hand and the other hand is usually portrayed inVarada mudra (fearlessness gesture of hand). (Fig. 1) However in four handed images, a pot is held in her upper left hand, a snake in her upper right hand, a rosary in her lower right hand, and a scripture in her lower left hand. In the images of later ages instead of a child the Devi carries a snake.(Fig. 2) She sits on the lotus in either a lalitasana mudra or in Padmasana, Sukhasana, baddhapadmasana, vajraparyankasana mudra (divers sitting posture). The goddess is full of beauty, youth and vigour; her bosom and waist remain uncovered.In those images, we notice many ornaments– such as kankanas, bahubalas, hara, upavita, katibandha, katisutra and patrakundalas.4 There is sometimes variation in the visual construction of an image, but the motifs of pot, scripture, rosary, snake, Asthika remain unchanged. Other than these, a small ghat (pitcher), Sijua (belonging to the Euphorbia genus) plants, and a plate full of offerings are kept beside the feet of the goddess. There are also two 1 Sen, Anjan & Sk. Makbul Islam. Sarpa Sanskriti O Manasa, A collection of essays on Serpent-cult and Manasa. Bangiya Sahitya Samsad, Kolkata, 2012 (e.g. [49]-[55]). 2 H. Bhuiyan. Mokamal, Studies in south Asian heritage. Essays in memory of M. Harunur Rashid. (e.g. [99]-[100]). 3 H. Bhuiyan. Mokamal, Iconography of Goddess Manasa: Origin, Development and Concepts. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Volume: 54, Issue (2): (e.g. [71]-[99]). 4 Bhattasali, Nalinikanta. Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum. Bangladesh National Museum. 1929. (e.g. [218]-[226]). Volume XII, Issue XII, December/2020 Page No:20 The International journal of analytical and experimental modal analysis ISSN NO:0886-9367 miniature bearded men positioned on either side of the deity. They are identified as Dhamai, Jaratkari or the attendants of the goddess. This early tradition of snake goddess has been decayed with the intervention of Mughals and Turks in Bengal. In addition, after a few centuries in the late medieval period with the reformation of Hindu revivalism in Bengal a new literary tradition has begun. Medieval Bengali literature consist various genre among them Hindu religious scriptures Mangalkavya (poems of Benediction) has three major genus which includes the magnificent portrayal of Manasa, Chandi, and Dharmathakur respectively.5Manasamangal is the oldest form of Mangal Kavya narrates the glorious story of the goddess in different phases. The most significant part is the victory of goddess while defeating Shiva‘s devotee Chand Sadagar. According to the story the goddess Manasa established herself as one of the goddesses worshipped among the predominant sects, after a long battle with Chand Sadagar, who has ultimately been compelled to worship the goddess by offering the flowers in left hand; (since he worships Shiva in his right hand).6 The gist of this story is the victory of a goddess who represents the women empowerment can be studied in many ways. However with the wide distribution of the Manasamangal text during the early colonial time, the folklore of Manasa became extensively popular among the Bengalis of Bengal.7 Based on this literary tradition a parallel tradition of Bengali folk music or Manasa Geet has become popular along with the tradition of earthen idols of Manasa. The tradition of earthen idol making is an ancient or pre-historical phenomenon in most of the ancient civilisation. Regarding the snake goddess in Bengal we find an ancient tradition of Sungai Devi in tangible materials as in stone and bronze. Even in that time the tradition of earthen idol may have existed parallels, because in Vaidik civilization, the earthen idol or clay idol is named as Mrinmoyi Murti.8However from the late medieval period the tradition of earthen idol of the goddess Manasa are in vogue. The striking similarity between the previous snake goddess and medieval Manasa exists in iconographical details. Therefore this hypothesis can be proven according to the statements of professor Gautam Sengupta that ―the name Sunga, Suvamgai, Janguli etc. are an ancient tradition and it indicates a continuous tradition of medieval snake goddess Manasa of Bengal.‖9(Fig. 3) In the folk eternity there are diverse forms of goddess Manasa; zoomorphic and anthropomorphic in nature. A huge range of folk arts and artisans are involved in making of the Manasa idols within the larger territory of Bengal or Bengali community. Among them, in the North-Eastern states of Tripura and South Assam, the Bengalis celebrate the Manasa worship in a splendorous way than that of the goddess Durga. Though there are several socio-religious factors for the current popularity of the goddess among the Bengali community in Northeast, however a detailed study of the history of art forms and artisans of Tripura related to the tradition of Manasa are in the consideration of this paper. These information are presented in this paper on the basis of two documents, first, interviews of traditional artisans and second, interaction with the idol worshippers or devotees.