ABSTRACT
It is among castes from Northern Bengal, such as the Kándú, Bind, Muriárí, and Surahiyá, that the followers of the strange Pánch Píriya creed are to be met with. Other curious sects, unknown to Bengal, are also found in their ranks. The Tirhutiya Tántís are members of the Buddh Rám communion, Kurmís often profess the doctrines taught by Darya Dás, and many Dosádhs those of Tulasídás. Still more worthy of notice is the existence among them of an old prehistoric cultus. The apotheosis of robber chiefs by Dosádhs, the deification of evil spirits, as Ráhu by the Dosádhs, Kási Bába by Binds, and Madhu Kunwár by Tántís, and the animistic idea endowing with life and personality the destructive energy of the Ganges, are all forms of belief unknown to castes native to Bengal.
