Project: Reading the ecology and folkloric rituals of Sundarbans through the story of its deities
Call for Field Investigator: 1 post Duration: 30 Days (October ‘2025)
Abstract: The geographical region of Sunderbans located in both India and Bangladesh. Form West Bengal (India) till Khulna (Bangladesh) this vast stretch of mangrove forest on the delta formed by Ganga, Bramhaputra and Meghna’s convergence. The local legend says that in Sundarbans ‘tiger lives in the land and crocodile in the water.’ Which indirectly verifies that this terrain is not favourable for human settlement. The folklores are not exception. These are narrative poems of the subaltern deities ‘Bonobibi’ (the goddess of the forest) and ‘Dakshin Ray’ (the tiger god). The shrines of two deities are prominent in the region where men risk their lives to get inside the protected forest for resources. The local folklore related to these deities are from two sources. The origin of Dokshin Ray is not random rather written in ‘Raymongol’ by Krishnaram Das. The tiger god proclaimed that he is a lord of southern region of Bengal and visited the author in the dream and commissioned him to write his story properly (Stewart, 2023). However, there are three authors wrote the story of the tiger god they are Hari Dev, Rudra Dev but most accepted form is Krishnaram Das’s version written in 1686. Later it was edited and published by Satyanarayan Bhattacharyay on behalf of Calcutta University (Chatterjee-Sarkar, 2010). Bonobibi is a protective matron of the forest. The story of Bonobibi is known as ‘Bonobibi Jahura Nama’ written by ‘Mohammad Khater’ in 1880 and another version available written by Banayuddin in 1877 (Chatterjee-Sarkar, 2010). The story articulates how a woman become the mother of all the inhabitants of the Sundarbans or the land of eighteen tides. This study will explore the version written by Mohammad Munshi in 1899.This textual analysis tries to explore the ecological history and folkloric rituals of Sundarbans through the prevalent stories of deities in the region.
Roles & Responsibilities:
1. Read both the text ‘Ray Mangal’ & ‘Bonobibi Jahura Nama’.
2. Understand the prosody and the story
3. Find out the unknown words of Bangla during medieval period
4. Visit to the library for better dictionary consultation
5. Write an interpretation of the text in modern Bangla
- Preferred Candidates
Master’s degree in Bangla with some prior experience of Bangla textual analysis work. The educational qualification cannot be a constraint for experienced candidates. Candidates from historically marginalized communities and women are encouraged to apply
The applicant must reside in Delhi and commit to work full time for the mentioned duration. Good communication skills in spoken Bangla and English and written Bangla is mandatory. Interview will be conducted in English.
Remuneration – Salary is 20,000/- per month
Application Process: Interested individuals can send their updated CV to bhaswati@cwds.ac.in latest by 3nd October, 2025. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
N. Manimekalai – Principal Investigator, Bhaswati Thakurta – Co-Principal Investigator