Historical PeriodEra
varies by tradition
📷 Navaneethpp · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Deities
Marang Buru
Maraṅ Buru — Great Mountain, high-god of the Santal
Maraṅ Buru — Great Mountain, high-god of the Santal
No primary scriptures are catalogued for this entry yet. If you know of scriptural references we have missed, please contribute them.
Maraṅ Buru ("Great Mountain") is the high-god of the Santal people — the second-largest tribal community in India. In Santal cosmology, Maraṅ Buru is the creator and the arbiter of human fate, worshipped alongside Jaher Era (the goddess of sacred groves).
Santal Sarnaism is the traditional religion of the Santal people — spoken in Santali, with central rituals conducted in sacred groves (jāher or sarna) of sal trees. Maraṅ Buru is the primary deity; Jaher Era ("Lady of the Grove") and Moreko-Turuiko (five-seven group of subordinate spirits) complete the central pantheon. The annual Sohrai festival honours cattle — a fascinating example of tribal agrarian religion paralleling the Vedic Gopāṣṭamī. Santals are actively campaigning for recognition of Sarna Dharma as a separate religious category in the Indian census (2021+).
