Hindu and Muslim Veneration of Bonbibi in the Sundarban Region (Bangladesh and India)

FAIN: FEL-268094-20

Sufia Mendez Uddin
Connecticut College (New London, CT 06320-4125)

Preparation of a website to include documentation and analysis of Hindu and Muslim traditions and ceremonies venerating the saint Bonbibi in the Sundarban island region of Bangladesh and India.

The Sundarbans, the southern island-filled delta of India and Bangladesh, is home to honey collectors and fisherfolk who depend on this mangrove forest to live. Some are Muslim and others Hindu, and both venerate “The Lady of the Forest” (Bonbibi). As told in her origins story (Jaharnama), she is a Sufi saint who protects all who live by her forest rules. Their shared veneration is often misunderstood, designated as mixed and confused practice. By taking seriously the role of place and labor in their lives, Bonbibi veneration can be understood as central to an intentional and embedded knowledge system. This born-digital project includes thick mapping, layering of audio and video files that bring the material together. The people’s story will come alive and serve as a different kind of archive for those who are the subject of the study. The best way to capture and comprehend the range of these practices is to create a work that reflects the multi-sensory world in which they take place.