A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A bonga maiden takes a bathing schoolboy’s books beneath the water and insists that he retrieve them himself. She draws him into a dry place below the tank, where he marries her. After a long stay he promises to return from a visit to his parents, but remains at home.

She follows in a flame of fire, changes into a snake called Karinangin, bites him while he sleeps and departs with his spirit after he dies. Karinangin is retained as the translation’s term without assigning a scientific snake species. The fire, snake and maiden belong to one narrative identity, not three separate beings.

Water-dwelling spouse who becomes a snakeSpecific Santal narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Santal Parganas, eastern India; source-specific Santali storytelling

02

Records & interpretation

Complete Part IV tales CXLVIII–CLIX and preface directly read; exact relevant sections identified.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Folklore of the Santal Parganas

    Cecil Henry Bompas, translator; O. Bodding, collector; Sagram Murmu, principal Santali writer credited in preface · 1909

    CLIII, The Schoolboy and the Bonga, pp. 384–386

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909)

Part IV, bonga narratives. CLIII, The Schoolboy and the Bonga, pp. 384–386

Relevant tales completely read along with Part IV introduction and full preface. Bodding/Murmu/Bompas mediation explicitly retained; original Santali manuscripts not independently inspected. Narrative supernatural claims distinguished from independently verified history or medicine.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translation of collected narrativesBompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909), CLIII, The Schoolboy and the Bonga, pp. 384–386Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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