Historical PeriodEra
Oral / medieval / documented history
📷 Cognizant · [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) · source
Deities
Bantala Mountain — Santal sacred
Bantala — the sacred mountain of the Bantala Santals
Bantala — the sacred mountain of the Bantala Santals
Sarnaism / Santal
Bantala Hill (also Sāmāi Pārbata) in Jhargram district, West Bengal, is venerated by ~200,000 Santals of the Jungle Mahal region. It is one of the core Sarna sacred groves. Santals gather at Bantala on the third day of Sohrai (January) for community feasts and the annual Hunt-festival. Near the hill: the Dharma Thakur shrine — a confluence of Santal Sarnaism with Hindu dharma-worship.
India's sacred landscape embraces Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian, tribal, regional-folk traditions — each with its own cosmology and priestly lineage. This entry honours Sarnaism on its own terms.
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