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Satya Pir

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Satya Pir (Bengali: সত্যপীর, romanized: sôtyôpīr) is a syncretic belief system created by the fusion of Islam and local religions like Hinduism in Bengal. Experts maintain that the Muslim Satya Pir and the Hindu Satyanarayan essentially represent the same beliefs and rituals.[1]

A century ago, a puja was mainly performed by Hindu women in Bengal and was interchangeably called Satya Pir Puja or Satyanarayan Puja. According to the Indian author Dwijendra Nath Neogi, some Muslims at that time also performed the puja. The author gives theories as to how Pir and Narayan got associated. In one theory, he proposes that Brahmins during the Muslim period of Bengal changed Narayan into Pir in order for the Muslims to believe that they were worshipping an Islamic saint. The other theory says the worship started as that of a Muslim saint, or Pir, and later the Pir was changed into Narayan.[2]

In folklore, Narayan and Pir get mixed such as one supplicant will address him as Satya Narayan, implying that he is an avatar of Vishnu, while another one in a different tale will be told that Satya Pir has just come from Mecca, which would make him Muslim.[3][4] Satya Pir is also worshipped by some Buddhists in Bangladesh.[5]

In Odisha, the region adjacent to Bengal, Sufism gained popularity and led to the emergence of the Satya Pir tradition. Even today, some Hindus worship Satyanarayan and Pir together.[6][7]

References

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  1. ↑ Karim, Abdul. "Satya Pir". Banglapedia. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Neogi, Dwijendra Nath (1916). Sacred Tales of India. London, UK: MacMillan & Company. pp. 95–100. Retrieved 20 June 2016. pir.
  3. ↑ Wells, Darla (2006). "Review of Tony K. Stewart, translator, Fabulous Females and Peerless Pirs: Tales of Mad Adventure in Old Bengal". Journal of Folklore Research Reviews.
  4. ↑ Uddin, Sufia (2006). "In the Company of Pirs: Making Vows, Receiving Favors at Bangladeshi Sufi Shrines". In Raj, Selva J.; Harman, William P. (eds.). Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia. Albany, NY: State University of New York. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-7914-6707-7.
  5. ↑ Barua, Dilip Kumar. "A Case Study in the Popular Buddhist Belief in Bangladesh" (PDF). Society for the Study of Pali and Buddhist Culture: 96.
  6. ↑ Kanungo, P. (2003). "Hindutva's Entry into a 'Hindu Province': Early Years of RSS in Orissa". Economic and Political Weekly. 38 (31): 3293–3303. JSTOR 4413860.
  7. ↑ Puniyani, Ram (2005). Religion, Power and Violence: Expression of Politics in Contemporary Times. New Delhi: Sage. pp. 21, 117–118. ISBN 978-0-7619-3338-0. Retrieved 30 June 2016.

Further reading

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