Santal religion, often centered on Marang Buru, the village spirits and the sacred groves, has long stood in a dynamic field of interaction with Hinduism. In regions where Santals live alongside caste Hindus, there has been both borrowing and boundary‑making. Santal deities are sometimes identified with Hindu gods, such as Marang Buru with Shiva or Mahadev and Jaher Era with a form of Devi, and Hindu festivals like Durga Puja and Kali Puja have entered the Santal ritual calendar in some areas. Certain Hindu ritual forms, Sanskritized language, and participation in local temple festivals appear alongside the continued observance of Santal sacrifices, rice‑beer offerings, and clan rules. At the same time, Santal leaders and intellectuals often resist being absorbed into a Hindu framework, insisting on a distinct indigenous dharam and emphasizing separate recognition for Sarna or “Adi” religion. Thus, interaction with Hinduism has produced a spectrum ranging from syncretic practice to deliberate differentiation.

The encounter with Christianity has been more sharply marked by conversion and the formation of new religious identities. Missionary activity led to substantial Santal Christian communities, whose members generally adopt Christian doctrines and church life while relinquishing sacrifice to the bongas and certain ritual obligations of the ancestral religion. Yet even here, the older spiritual world is not simply erased: Santal Christians frequently retain traditional festivals such as Sohrai or Baha as “cultural” observances, and Santal musical forms, dance, and narrative motifs continue within Christian hymnody and storytelling. Missionary work in the Santali language—grammars, dictionaries, and Bible translations—helped stabilize and elevate the language, which later became a resource for Santal cultural self‑assertion. Alongside these changes, traditional village councils have at times sanctioned or ostracized converts, showing that the path between the old rites and the new faith is often contested and negotiated rather than smoothly traversed.

Interaction with Islam has generally been more limited and less structurally transformative, yet it, too, has left its traces. In areas where Santals live near Muslim communities, there is shared participation in markets, fairs, and seasonal gatherings that blur the lines between what is strictly “religious” and what is broadly cultural. Some Santals have embraced Islam, particularly in regions such as parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh, adopting Islamic ritual life while retaining elements of Santal language and social custom. Santal Muslims, like Santal Christians, tend to stand somewhat outside the core Sarna ritual system, indicating that Islam usually presents itself as an alternative religious path rather than a set of elements easily absorbed into Santal animism. Across all these encounters—with Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam—the Santal religious world shows a pattern of selective adoption, syncretism, and resistance, maintaining a distinctive spiritual grammar even as it converses with powerful neighboring traditions.