Folk Elements in Hindu Culture

The present work is based on a study of the Folk Arts, Folk traditions, folk songs and folk festivals of India in general and Eastern India in particular. During the last few decades considerable research has been bestowed on Indian vernaculars from the philological and historical point of view and scholars have been able to throw new light on political, linguistic, social and religious developments. But, yet a systematic work utilizing these vernacular evidence has to be attempted. The book is mainly a study of the relations between Shaiva-cum Shaktaism and Buddhism, both discriptive and historical. The evidences have been derived from a first hand exploration of oral traditions and Folklore as well as from manuscripts. According to the author, the terms Hinduism, Brahamanism and Buddhism etc., are very ambiguous and more or less misnome Thus it is difficult to distinguish between the images of the Gods and Goddesses belonging to Buddhist and non – Buddhistic pantheons of Hinduism. The book is a very interesting study on the Folk institutions and cultures of India and is bound to be of much interest to both scholars and students on the subject.