{{short description|Group of Bengali Hindu religious texts}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} [[Image:Manasa-popular.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Depiction of Manasā, the snake-goddess in 20th century Bengali popular art.]] {{Culture of Bengal}} '''Mangal-Kāvya''' ({{langx|bn|মঙ্গলকাব্য}}; ''lit.'' "Poems of Benediction") is a group of Bengali religious texts, composed more or less between 13th and 18th centuries, notably consisting of narratives of indigenous deities of rural Bengal in the social scenario of the Middle Ages. The '''Mangal-Kāvyas''' usually give prominence to a particular deity amalgamated with a Vedic or Hindu mythological god and the narratives are usually written in the form of verses.
''Manasā Mangal'', ''Chandī Mangal'' and ''Dharma Mangal'', the three major genus of '''Mangal-Kāvya''' tradition include the portrayal of the magnitude of Manasā, Chandī and Dharmathakur respectively. They are considered the greatest among all the native divinities in Bengal. But restraining the accounts of other deities, there are also minor Mangal-Kāvyas known as ''Shivāyana'', ''Kālikā Mangal'', ''Rāya Mangal'', ''Shashtī Mangal'', ''Sītalā Mangal'' and ''Kamalā Mangal'' etc. Each strain is composed by more than one poet or group of poets who are on the whole the worshipper of the god or goddess concerning their verses.
The Mangal-Kāvya tradition is an archetype of the synthesis between the Vedic and the popular folk culture of India. Lila Ray elaborates: “Indigenous myths and legends inherited from Indo-Aryan cultures began to blend and crystallize around popular deities and semi-mythological figures during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A new cosmogony emerged—distinct from the Sanskrit tradition yet bearing an unmistakable affinity to the cosmogonic hymns of the Rigveda and the Polynesian myth of creation.”<ref>p.145, Bengali Literature, Annada Shankar Ray and Lila Ray, Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, Kolkata</ref>
==Etymology== The word '''Mangal-Kāvya''' comes out as an amalgamation of the two Bengali Sanskritisms, ''Mangal'' (Benediction) and ''Kavya'' (Poems). These are so named because it was believed that listening to these verses concerning the auspicious divinities would bring both spiritual and material benefits. Though some scholars of the early modern period tried to find out any other significance of the word ''Mangal'' that was frequently used in the medieval Bengali literature irrespective of any designated tradition. But all these speculations are now firmly discarded by the recent school of intellectuals.
#Listening to them was said to bring spiritual and material benefits ("mangal").<ref name = "Banglapedia">{{cite book |last=Bhowmik |first=Dulal |year=2012 |chapter=Mangalkavya |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mangalkavya |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |access-date=19 March 2016 |archive-date=27 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327152640/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mangalkavya |url-status=live }}</ref> #They were sung in the Mangal raga. #They were read out in rituals extending from one "Mangalbar" (Tuesday) to the next.
==Poems== Mangalkavya were used to describe the greatness of particular Hindu deities known as "nimnokoti" (roughly translating as lower) by historians, because they were absent or unimportant in classical Hindu literature such as the Vedas or Puranas. These deities were based on indigenous to Bengal (like Manasa) who had become assimilated in regional Hinduism. These deities are often depicted with unusually strong human qualities and they engage in direct interaction with humans. They are also portrayed to have flaws such as envy like other human beings.
In the time period when they were produced, Mangalkavya was the representation of nearly all medieval Bengali literature. Mangalkavya was the main form of expression in the Later Middle Period of the language.<ref name="i3pep">[http://www.i3pep.org/archives/2003/11/03/bengali-language-a-brief-introduction/ Bengali Language: A Brief Introduction] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011042610/http://www.i3pep.org/archives/2003/11/03/bengali-language-a-brief-introduction/ |date=11 October 2006 }} – i3pep.org</ref>
==Construction== Mangalkavyas were composed of four parts: the Vandana, the Reasoning, the Devakhanda, and the Narakhanda.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}
==Characteristics== ''Mangals'' are usually similar in form though variant in length. They are written for the most part in the simple payar meter, a couplet form with the rhyme scheme AA BB which is considered an appropriate form for oral literature.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050512/mangal-kavya mangal-kavya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070118004656/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050512/mangal-kavya |date=18 January 2007 }} - ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref>
==Usage== They are often recited at the festivals of the deities mentioned in the kavya. The popular ones are sung to entertain village audiences as Bhajans. Many variants exist, since singers may change the verses. Most are written in simple couplets, using earthy imagery drawn from simple objects like: village, field, and river.<ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/mangal-kavya Mangal-kavya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117173639/http://www.answers.com/topic/mangal-kavya |date=17 January 2012 }} - Answers.com</ref>
==Effects== The spread of Mangalkavya increased throughout Bengal around the late 18th century. It has been documented in the city of Majilpur that the number of Shiva mandirs increased tremendously after Mangalkavya began being composed in the vicinity.<ref>[http://www.hindubooks.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=143&page=7 24 Parganas - Page 6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930163703/http://www.hindubooks.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=143&page=7 |date=30 September 2007 }} HinduBooks</ref>
==Kavya== The main Mangalkavyas include Manasamangalkavya, Chandimangalkavya, Dharmamangalkavya and Annadamangalkavya, with Manasamangal being the most famous. It is widely considered to be one of the most important works ever of Bengali literature and references to stories of Manasamangal abound in literature even to this day because of their highly symbolic value. There are also other minor Mangalkavyas such as Raimangalkavya in the Sundarban region.
==See also== *Chaitanya Bhagavata *Tulsidas *Bhakti *Bengali literature
==References== {{reflist}} {{Dharmamangal Topics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangal-Kavya}} Category:15th-century Indian books Category:16th-century Indian books Category:17th-century Indian books