Project: Reading the ecology and folkloric rituals of Sundarbans through the story of its deities
Call for Field Investigator: 1 post Duration: 30 Days (15-12-2025 to 15-01-2025)
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 ‘Bon-bibi’ (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). Bon-bibi is a protective matron of the forest. The story of Bon-bibi is known as ‘Bon-bibi 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.
Both these texts define the livelihood options depended on the mangrove forests. They are honey collector (Moule), Wood cutter (Baule), Salt maker (Moulungee). The nature and work of Molungees are specified in the records of the British East India Company. However, this industry just vanished from Sundarbans area because the proposal of Tillman Henkel (Ray, 2024). These men dominated work never allow women. In 1970 the prawn seed collection is relatively new livelihood option introduced in the region where women are engaged. Introduction of this new livelihood option, contravenes the ‘Ethos of the forest’ and therefore cursed by Bonobibi while describing the criticism by the elite islander regarding prawn seed industry (Jalais, 2011). The study aims to interview these women engaged in the prawn seed industry as well as men who are engaged seasonally in honey collection, wood cutting and other rives based livelihoods, which needs license from the forest department. The relevance of Bon-bibi and Dakshin Ray in the region also captured in the open –ended interview which will be linked with the textual analysis component.
Roles & Responsibilities:
- Knowledge of ‘Ray Mangal’ & ‘Bonobibi Jahura Nama’.
- Identifying forest and water based livelihood earners both men and women
- Open ended interview based on the framed question as a model
- The questionnaires must be filled in Bangla
- Some case studies must be recorded along with the questionnaires.
- The full knowledge of writing in Bangla software is required
Preferred Candidates:
Master’s degree in Social sciences/ Bangla with some prior experience of research 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 preferably in Sundarbans or surrounding areas and commit to work full time for the mentioned duration. Good communication skills in both spoken and written Bangla is mandatory.
Remuneration – Salary is 20,000/- per month
Application Process: Interested individuals can send their updated CV to bhaswati@cwds.ac.in latest by 30th November, 2025. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
- Manimekalai – Principal Investigator, Bhaswati Thakurta – Co-Principal Investigator