Week 2: Lecture 1: Between Tide and Tiger: Shared Sacred Space in the Sundarbans

Sacred Space

The Bengal Delta

The world’s largest river delta

Convergence of three rivers

Location of the Sundarbans

Sundarbans

The largest continuous mangrove forest in the world

UNESCO world heritage site

Biodiversity hotspot

Sundarbans meaning

“Beautiful forest”

Sundarbans resource extraction

Wood, honey, and wax are all collected deep in the forest

More than 4 million people live on forest resources in Bangladesh

Landowners in the Sundarbans

Not well-liked

Associated with tiger deity Dakshin Ray

Environmental threats in the Sundarbans

Dependence on resource extraction

One of the poorest and least well-connected regions in West Bengal and Bangladesh

Constant threats from deadly animals (crocodiles, venemous snakes, tigers)

Religion in the Sundarbans

Connected to the early spread of Islam - 5 centuries of Muslim rule

Forest-clearing and wet rice cultivation connected to Sufi involvement

• Brought in indigenous Adivasi groups to clear the land

Greed considered a significant sin

Partition of Bengal

First: 1905

• Led by British Raj

• Very unpopular

• Rescinded in 1911

Second: 1947

• India and Pakistan became separate nations

• Bangladesh became “East Pakistan” until 1971

Sundarban Communities and Religion

Worship deities like Bonbibi and Manasā, Daksiń Ray

• Bonbibi has authority over Daksiń Ray

Land treated as sacred because it provides all they need

• Deities provide a framework for sustainable relationships with the forest

Deities are dressed differently based on Hindu or Muslim majority, but worship unilaterally

Bonbibi

Deity believed to grant protection in the forest

Manasā

Snake deity, also popular outside of the Sundarbans

Traditionally lower-caste patronage

Can offer protection, but will be dangerous if crossed

• Less forgiving than Bonbibi

Shared sacred space and climate change

Since the 1960s, ~ 40 km² have been lost

Increased pressure on the ecosystem, tigers hunt people more

Cyclones are bad

“Tiger widows” are ostracized when husbands die, considered ill omens, and often have to take jobs in the city