ABSTRACT
during the earlier days of British rule in India the two most important groups within Bengali Hindu society were the Vaishnavas and Saivas, who worshipped Vishnu and Siva as the one supreme lord of creation. They were both equally orthodox in their rigid observance of the traditional laws of Hindu conduct which were embodied in the caste system. They both recognized all the lesser divinities of the Hindu pantheon. Each group claimed to follow closely the Vedanta philosophy, interpreting it according to its own tradition.
