Tunnel of Love: The Transformation of the Kālikā Maṅgal
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- Catalogue identifier
- kali-fifty4-004
- Alternate titles and import identifiers
- KALI-50B4-004
- Author or attribution
- W. L. Smith (as credited in publication)
- Record type
- Article
- Language
- English
- Date / edition
- 2010
- Source / repository
- Studia Orientalia — journal.fi
- Access
- Open access
- Subjects
- 50 Full-Text Sources — Batch 4, November 2026; Scholarship and historical studies
Description and curator notes
Smith traces the relationship between the Bengali Kālikā Maṅgal tradition and the Vidyā–Sundar romance. Comparing versions attributed to several poets, the article asks how a courtly love narrative became associated with praise of Kali even though the goddess is absent or marginal in some early tellings. It examines links with the story of the Sanskrit poet Bilhaṇa, changes in the lover’s rescue, devotional framing and the later movement of the story into popular theatre. The discussion is especially useful for distinguishing a work’s devotional title from its actual narrative content. It also records disagreements over the priority and dating of early Bengali versions and warns against automatically identifying the Kālikā Maṅgal poet Rāmprasād with the famous hymn writer of that name. Transliterated examples and a bibliography support further work with the original editions. This is the complete scholarly article, not a full edition or translation of any individual Kālikā Maṅgal.
Curator source KALI-50B4-004. Scholarship and historical studies. Research supplement dated 5 November 2026.
Except where specific checks are described below, source access, completeness and scholarly or devotional assessments are supplied by the curator document, not a new independent verification by this library. Comparative goddess identities, healing claims and devotional interpretations are attributed, not established universal or clinical facts. Full source content is linked, not reproduced.
04. Tunnel of Love: The Transformation of the Kālikā Maṅgal
Author/editor: W. L. Smith (as credited in publication) | 2010
Type / language: Complete scholarly journal article | English
Smith traces the relationship between the Bengali Kālikā Maṅgal tradition and the Vidyā–Sundar romance. Comparing versions attributed to several poets, the article asks how a courtly love narrative became associated with praise of Kali even though the goddess is absent or marginal in some early tellings. It examines links with the story of the Sanskrit poet Bilhaṇa, changes in the lover’s rescue, devotional framing and the later movement of the story into popular theatre. The discussion is especially useful for distinguishing a work’s devotional title from its actual narrative content. It also records disagreements over the priority and dating of early Bengali versions and warns against automatically identifying the Kālikā Maṅgal poet Rāmprasād with the famous hymn writer of that name. Transliterated examples and a bibliography support further work with the original editions. This is the complete scholarly article, not a full edition or translation of any individual Kālikā Maṅgal.
Read the complete source: Open full-text document
https://journal.fi/store/article/download/52390/16240
Access check: Complete freely readable original-host PDF downloaded without payment or login on 2026-11-05.
Source links:
https://journal.fi/store/article/download/52390/16240
Source access
Read or locate the original source at Studia Orientalia — journal.fi
Rights and reading conditions
Curator-reported free reading is not a blanket republication licence. Follow each source's copyright and reuse conditions; third-party images may have different rights from the article text. No full texts or scans are reproduced here. Complete freely readable original-host PDF downloaded without payment or login on 2026-11-05.
Citation
W. L. Smith (as credited in publication). Tunnel of Love: The Transformation of the Kālikā Maṅgal. Studia Orientalia — journal.fi. 2010. https://journal.fi/store/article/download/52390/16240
This page supplies catalogue metadata and links. It does not reproduce the underlying source text. Historical, religious, healing and interpretive claims belong to the cited sources, not to an independent verification by this catalogue.