Therefore, in this book I have minimized the use ofdiacriticals.

There is something ironic about a book on Indian popular religionthat is inaccessible to a popular audience because of the use of Bengaliand Sanskrit diacritical marks, whose symbolism is only understoodby specialists. Special thanks to my husband, Jim, photographer and supportsystem extraordinaire, and Constantina Rhodes Bailly, for inspiring Thanks also to the British Library, for accessto some very old books, and to Jill Yarnall, for her story. K.Chakraborty, Parvati Soren, Bacchu Ghosh, the Andul Kali-kirtanSamiti, and the priests, local healers, sadhus, tantrikas, holy women,artists, patuas, story-tellers, merchants, waiters, gardeners, farmers,taxi drivers, doctors, engineers, housewives, grant administrators, andShakta devotees of all sorts, who kindly gave me their opinions abouteverything imaginable. Thanks go also to Jayashri Ma, Gauri Ma, Archanapuri Ma, TapanGoswami, Amiya Kumar and Mrs. Mukherjeeand Swami Lokeshwarananda, and Ashok Mukherji. Thanks also go to Narendranath Bhattacharyya andDebabrata Sen Sharma for their detailed information on Bengali andother forms of tantra, and to Probhal Sen, Asha and Bijoy Mukherjee,Ranjit and Kumkum Bhattacharya, Tushar Niyogi, George Matthew,Surajit and Purnima Sinha, Amit and Mandira Sen, D. I’m glad that I had the opportunityto know them. Both spent weeks and months in long discus-sion with me about Bengali folk religion, and they were wonderfulsources of information and gossip. Thanks also to USIS inIndia, who were very helpful, especially in New Delhi and Calcutta.Two of my best informants were anthropologists, Satyakam Senguptaand Pashupati Mahato. Thanks go to the Fulbright Program and its representatives, whoseSenior Scholar Research Fellowship made it possible for me to do thisresearch in West Bengal, and to the College of Charleston, whogranted me a year’s leave for field research. Printed in the United States of Americaon acid-free paper West Bengal (India)-Religious life and customs.

Kali (Hindu deity)-Cult-India-West Bengal.2. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataMcDaniel, June.Offering flowers, feeding skulls : popular goddess worship in WestBengal / June McDaniel.p. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University PressĪll rights reserved.

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