In Photos: Worshipping Ma Bonbibi, Mother to Humans and Tigers in Sundarbans

Those who live in the Sundarbans honour Bonbibi in order to ensure their physical safety in the perilous terrain.

(Photo: Ritayan Mukherjee)

In Rajat Jubilee village, West Bengal, the women of a forest dweller family are preparing for Bonbibi Pujo.

Those who live in the Sundarbans honour Bonbibi in order to ensure their physical safety in the perilous terrain.

Every year, the villagers host the pujo on the first day of the Magh month to celebrate Bonbibi.

The hard copy of Bonbibi Johuranama – which talks about the glory of the historical figure. The vocabulary of the book is a combination of Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, and demotic words that are unique to Bengali language standards.

As part of the customs, cooks prepare Suji ka Halwa. It is a type of sweet dish prepared by toasting semolina in fat, such as oil or ghee, and then adding a sweetener, such as jaggery powder, sugar syrup, or honey.

A major part of the celebration is music played by local musicians. Here, an artist is waiting to play the drums. 

A dog sleeps peacefully while devotees are busy worshipping Bonbibi. The pujo generally goes on for 3-4 hours depending on the number of devotees each house has.

One of the elder family members is reads the scripture from Bonbibi Johuranama to worship Bonbibi.

After the pujo is performed, a devotee takes back the offerings which are traditional sweets, fruits, and puffed rice.

One of the several musical dramas performed by the people of the Sundarbans is Bonbibi Pala Gaan, also known as Dukhey Jatra. It is performed on the eve of Bonbibi pujo. There aren't enough artists to perform this piece of folk theatre as many have been forced to migrate by declining earnings. Here, Usharani Gharanui Mandal, an artist, is dressed up as Bonbibi to perform in the Dukhey Jatra.

A devotee watches the Dukhey Jatra on Bonbibi Pujo evening.

Pushpa Mandal lost her husband in a tiger attack. In May 2020, fisherman Arjun Mandal ventured into the jungle to collect crabs and never returned. "Even my faith in Bonbibi could not save my husband,” Pushpa said.

Soumitra Mandal, one of the elder fishermen of Rajat Jubilee village, is 75 years old. He has ventured into the jungle many times, and has been attacked by tigers too. But he managed to escape, and says that his faith in Bonbibi saved him. “Nowadays, the number of deaths related to tiger attacks has gone up because people have become greedy and they don’t follow the rules of the jungle. So, Bonbibi does not protect them," he said.

"When we venture into the jungle to hunt crabs or to gather honey, she is our sole line of defence. Families who live as forest dwellers in the Indian Sundarbans, like us, worship her," said Sandhya Mandal, a resident of Rajat Jubilee village in West Bengal's Sundarbans. Sandhya's family, like most others in the region, depend on the jungle for their livelihood – and on Ma Bonbibi to keep them safe.

The biggest mangrove forest in the world, an estimated 12 million inhabitants of Sundarbans, live by the Bengali saying, "Jole kumir dangaye bagh ( tiger on the land, crocodile in the water)."

Under these conditions, the forest dwellers believe that prayers to Bonbibi, a legendary figure, 'magically' safeguards their life in the Sundarbans.

Folklore suggests that Bonbibi became well-known in the mangrove forest when Islam first appeared in the region in the early 15th century. Some contend that she was originally a Hindu deity who eventually evolved into a Muslim Sufi figure.

Every year, on the first of Magh month (as per Bengali calendar), forest dwellers construct temporary thaans or temples along the riverbanks and forests to worship their beloved Bonbibi.

(Ritayan Mukherjee is an independent photographer from Kolkata. He is working on a long-term project that documents the lives of pastoral and nomadic communities in India. Ritayan has several publications and the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards (RNG Awards) in his portfolio.)