Agriculture, Floriculture and Botanical Knowledge in a Middle Bengali Text

Abstract

This chapter offers an overview of botanical lore in Śūnyapurāṇ, a heterogeneous Bengali liturgical work attributed to Rāmāi Paṇḍit. The text celebrates the god Dharmarāj, or Dharma Ṭhākur, through a lengthy cosmogonic narrative and various ritual tracts that define the practice of Dharmapūjā. After a brief introduction about the text, its authorship and date, I will discuss the use of flowers and rice in the worship of Dharmarāj in three sections: the plucking of flowers (puṣpatolān); the birth of paddy (dhānyer janma), which includes the popular tale of the farming (kr̥ṣak) Śiva, and the auspicious song of the husking pedal (ḍheṅkīmaṅgal).