Adaptation of Manasa Mangal Kavya in the scroll Paintings and Verses of Folk Painters Sohini Dasgupta ‘Mangal Kāvyas’, rendered as auspicious benedictory verses, are indigenous literature of Bengal which gained prominence in between the 14 th and the 18 th centuries. ‘Mangal Kāvyas’, meant primarily to be recited, have been adopted by the scroll painters or ‘patuas’ in their paintings and verses. Manasā Mangal Kāvya has been one of the early natural choices for the patuas. The term ‘patua’ or ‘patidar’ is used in Bengali to denote a class of professional painters and their whole caste. The mention of the term ‘patas’ or paintings can be traced to such ancient classical literature as Abhijnana Śakuntalam or even in Banavatta’s Harshacharita. 1 However the Bengal form of the art inspired by the Rajasthani style of art has its roots in the days of the Mughal period in Bengal 2 and this form flourished after the renovation of the Kali Temple in Kalighat, Kolkata by Sabarna Raychaudhury. 3 The art critic Maity writes, “One of the most important and fascinating subjects of the paintings of the Patuas especially in the districts of Midnapore, Bankura and Birbhum is the story of Chand Sadagar, Behula and Lakhindar”, which is one of the most popular episodes of Mangal Kāvya. These professional scroll painters or patuas “earned their livelihood by entertaining the village folk with the ‘patas’ or scroll paintings.” 4 Manasā Mangal Kāvya, according to the legendary comparative philologist Sukumar Sen, has been popular not only in Bengal but also in the various north eastern states including Assam. 5 This present paper uses the most popular available version of this Kāvya written by Ketakādās Kshemānanda. 6 Kshemānanda’s version as in most Manasā Mangal Kāvyas has an elaborate narrative of the Goddess Manasā, the serpent Goddess, her birth, her struggles to gain a place amongst the panoply of the Great Gods and the final achievement of Her dream. After the ritualistic invocation of the Muse, the Goddess Manasā, the narrative goes on to present how Manasā after an accidental birth from Śiva is not received well by her step- mother Bhabāni (a form of Durga) who goes to the extent of blinding one of the eyes of Manasā with fire: “Hemanter beti: Agnir chnekāti: māre Manasā tare / dvaiber kāra bipā ghata: Manasā hoilo kānā” (The daughter of Hemanta singed Manasā and by fate She 1 Maity, Pradyot K.. The Patas and Patuas of Bengal. Sankar Sengupta. Ed. Kolkata: Indian Publications, 1973. 73. 2 Mc Cutchion and Suhrid K. Bhowmik. Patuas and Patua Art in Bengal. Introduction Jill Parvin. Kolkata:Firma KLM, 1999. 25. 3 Sengupta, Nita Compilation. Kalighat Pata Painting in the Collection of Indian Museum. Kolkata: Indian Museum, n.d. 3. 4 Maity, Pradyot K.. The Patas and Patuas of Bengal. Sankar Sengupta. Ed. Kolkata: Indian Publications, 1973. 73. 5 Sen, Sukumar. Bangala Sahityer Itihas. Vol I. Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, 1991. 177. 6 Kshemananda, Ketakadas. Manasā Mangal. Sanat Kumar Naskar Ed. Kolkata: Pragya Bikash, 2015.