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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Maggie RoeORCiD
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The sacred stories of the Sundarbans express relationships between landscapes and people and the myths and legends that have grown up as a result of the interaction between natural processes and people’s lives. These tell of lives in the watery landscapes of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta that is in a constant state of flux, with hundreds of islands that shift and change. Home to approximately four million people and described as a ‘syncretic’ landscape, the Sundarbans is the largest single-tract mangrove forest in the world, covering 10,000sqkm (40% India; 60% Bangladesh). Large parts are protected for the rich cultural heritage and biodiversity. This work is based on collaborations between researchers from Newcastle University UK, Swastik Pal, a Visual Artist working with photography and video, based in Kolkata, India, and communities in the Sundarbans during a five year project, ‘Living Deltas’. Engaging with creative methods encouraged to challenge the relevance of stories from the past in considering the contemporary lives of wild honey-gathering communities. We examined the goddess Bonbibi, worshipped across national and faith boundaries, revered as protector of the forest and its many dangers, providing a balance between fear and respect, peace and danger, gain and loss. The ‘cult’ of Bonbibi endures, despite increasing challenges to the existence of the people and landscapes of the Sundarbans. Our findings, told in visual and textual forms, through co-creative methods working with interpretive photo-journalism, indicate how Bonbibi worship has been, and continues to play, an important role in the culture of the Sundarbans, resisting religious divisions, crossing national political boundaries and reflecting both the sanctity of the forest and its ever-present dangers. The sacred rituals are intrinsic to the lives of these communities in this fluid, dynamic environment whose inhabitants are familiar with the need for adaptation and resilience to change
Author(s): Roe MH, Pal S
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Unpublished
Conference Name: International Exhibition: Interreligious Encounters & Creative Practice
Year of Conference: 2026
