Religion Culture and History of Jharkhand : A Study of the Baidyanath Cult

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. The historical perspective. 3. The cult of Shiva-Shakti at Macro level. 4. The sacred complex of Baidyanth Dham and its allied centers. 5. Sacred performances and worships at Baidyanatheswar Kshetra. 6. The evolution of a regional culture. 7. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

This work is a detailed study of the religious practices, rituals and deities worshiped in the Santal parganas region of modern Jharkhand. Though the central figure around which everything revolves in the Baidyanath Dham of deoghar or in the entire region of Santal Parganas and its surroundings is the deity of Lord Baidyanath, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, this work tries to explore the worship of several other local deities and its relationship with Lord Baidyanath.  Along with this many other diverse ritual practices prevalent in the area have also been studied here. The book, thus studies and identifies a distinct mode of religion practiced in this area within the broad framework of  ‘Hinduism’, which has been defined as The Baidyanath Cult’ by the author. It is to be noted that for the first time this term The Baidyanath cult by the author. It is to be noted that for the first time this term “The Baidyanath cult has been coined in this book. The Shaiva and Shakta traiditons of Hinduism have merged into one and it has also integrated several elements of the Vajrayan Buddhism and other local traditions.

This book also demonstrate the process of integration at different level taking place in the Indian society. Both the “Little Tradition” and the “Great Tradition” of this region have been carefully dealt with here. The cultural arena of this land reflects that the “Sacred Complex” of Baidyanth Dham (Deoghar), Basukinath Dham, Ajgaibinath Dham (Sultangani) and their “Cultural specialists” are the main agents of this integration process. They perform their roles by different “Cultural Media” discussed in this book.