Santal cosmology portrays a universe that is both layered and thoroughly alive with spirit. At its apex stands Thakur Jiu, the supreme creator, associated with the upper, divine realm, while the human world occupies the middle layer and a lower realm is linked with ancestral and other powerful spirits. This cosmos is not an abstract scheme but a living order in which all existence is animated by consciousness and spiritual forces. Natural features—hills, rivers, trees, stones, and animals—are understood as dwelling places of bongas, the spirits who govern health, fertility, protection, and misfortune. The visible, material world and the invisible, spiritual world interpenetrate, so that every place is potentially a point of contact between realms.

Within this framework, creation myths center on Thakur Jiu’s primordial act of bringing forth the world, often from an original state associated with water or formlessness. Out of this newly ordered world emerge the first human pair, Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Budhi, fashioned as the primal ancestors from whom the Santal people ultimately trace their descent. Their story frequently includes a great flood sent as a test or cosmic crisis, from which they alone survive, sometimes associated with a mountain or elevated refuge. After this re-beginning, they repopulate the earth and receive culture-giving guidance, especially in skills such as agriculture and weaving, from a major spirit like Marang Buru, who stands close to the community as guardian and teacher. In this way, human society, livelihood, and ritual life are all grounded in a sacred narrative of origin.

The Santal world is further shaped by an intricate network of relationships with bongas and ancestral spirits. Ancestral beings continue to dwell in their own realm and remain active in the lives of descendants, who honor them through ritual and remembrance. Sacred groves, hills, and other marked sites serve as focal points where offerings are made and communication with the spirit world is sought. Time itself is experienced as cyclical, patterned by agricultural seasons and festivals that renew the bond between humans, land, and the unseen powers that sustain them. Through these cycles, the community continually reaffirms its place in a cosmos understood as a sacred inheritance, maintained through ethical conduct, ritual observance, and a deep sense of kinship with both human and non-human beings.