BANGLADESH, April 12, 2005: A mosaic of religious sites permeate Bangladesh otherwise known as Bengal and the region boasts the birth of many religious personages on its soil. Dr. Sachi G. Dastidar explains, “Over the millenniums several places have become famous tirthas or places of pilgrimages in Bengal. A large concentration of those places are in today’s Bangladesh. Many notable monks, rishis (Hindu saints), bhikkhus (Buddhist saints), and famous personalities were born here. Many Muslim tombs of holy pirs and darbeshes exist here, notable among them is the mazar (cemetery) of Shah Jalal in Sylhet. There exist several famous Christian churches. In Bangladesh [Bengal] Hindu traditions of local, Vedic, non-Vedic, tribal, Mongolian along with Buddhist and Islamic, have all merged to give her a distinctive identity. Here the traditions of the Saivaites, Saktas and Vaishnavs, (the predominant Hindu groups in Bengal) have merged producing many festivities from worshipping of tulshi plants and banyan trees to snake goddess Manasa to Gods Kali, Shiva and Sri Krishna. It is estimated that there are over 20,323 temples in Bangladesh.”
These are only a few of the highlights that Dr. Dastidar has expounded on in this news release. Dr. Sachi G Dastidar, a Distinguished Service Professor of State University of New York, can be reached at dastidars@hotmail.com.
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