Literature At Home

A shrine of a Hindu folk deity named “Buri Maa”, Burir Pat is located in Dinhata near Bypass Highway. The temple enjoys popularity in the town with its rich history. As per the little knowledge gathered while chit-chatting with a fellow resident of this area, this temple was built during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War by a Muslim who fled to India from the then East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and erected this temple at Buri Maa’s behest in his dream. Ever since then Buri Maa has been worshipped both by the Hindus and the Muslims of this locality. This is truly an inspiring story which talks to us about the importance of cultural syncretism and cosmopolitanism. Buri Maa is a special form of goddess Durga. But unlike goddess Durga, she is not accompanied by her children here. She is a symbol of good luck and prosperity. People worship Buri Maa in their houses before arranging any auspicious occasions like marriage, rice ceremony etc with a view to expecting propitious result ...

 Masan Baba is a folk deity of benevolent and/or malevolent nature worshipped mainly by the Rajbanshi community in North Bengal, especially in the Dinhata subdivision of Cooch Behar district. Every year on the first day of the Bengali month Jaishto (May-June) a fair is organized centering the annual worship of Masan Baba in the village named Alokjhari at Gosanimari under this very subdivision. The God, worshipped in this very temple by the name Garkata Masan as well as Alokjhari Masan, is the most primordial and popular one among its other equivalents forming one hundred twenty six in total while in the district itself only twenty eight of its equivalents are found to be worshipped. The Rajbanshi community believe that the different forms of Masan Baba can cause different harm to the people of different ages such as spreading several diseases and bringing about natural calamities and in a bid to get rid of these diseases and calamities they started to worship Masan Baba. As mytholo...