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H-M synthesis in Bengal: Goddess Bonbibi worshipped by both communities

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H-M synthesis in Bengal: Goddess Bonbibi worshipped by both communities Empty H-M synthesis in Bengal: Goddess Bonbibi worshipped by both communities

Post by Guest Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:02 pm

Bengal was partitioned in 1947 on communal lines. Hindu-majority western Bengal became a part of the dominion of India while Muslim-majority eastern Bengal became a part of the Pakistan dominion. Belying this recent history, however, Bengal has a tradition of communal coexistence which stretches back centuries. Bengalis, both Muslim as well as Hindu, have lived cheek by jowl in the most densely-populated area on earth. Maybe nothing symbolises this long history of Hindu-Muslim cohabitation than the Goddess Bonbibi, worshipped by both communities in the dense Sundarbans forest on the Bengal coast.

The name Bonbibi literally means lady of the forest. Since the appellation bibi is used by Muslim women as an all-purpose surname, that makes it a unique name for a Bengali goddess. Daughter of a sufi fakir, Bonbibi is the great adversary of Dokkhin Rai, literally southern lord. Rai is a zamindar who takes the form of a tiger to prey on the inhabitants of the Sundarbans. Allah chooses Bonbibi to end Dokkhin Rai’s tyranny – a task accomplished easily enough after a short trip to Mecca and Medina. The Bibi, however, decides not to kill Rai and instead makes him promise that he will not harm anyone who worships her. In the Sundarbans, where death can come quickly, its inhabitants have worshipped Bonbibi for centuries as protection from the jungle’s many dangers.

http://scroll.in/roving/819942/bonbibi

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