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becomes serious during cyclonic depressions, which are very common in Sundarban
delta. For protection of the embankment, people refer to Ganga as the supreme
Goddess.
Bonobibi, the lady of the forest is the female deity of deltaic Sundarbans. She is
the guardian deity of the forests (Fig. 10.2).
Both the Hindu and Muslim communities pay their respects to her before venturing into the forest. Also known as Basuli, Bibi Maa, Biswalakshmi, Bon Durga, or
Bon Kali, she is portrayed by clay modellers either mounted on a tiger or a hen. She
is pretty and graceful, ever eager to protect the people of the Sundarbans. The deity
is often dressed like a Muslim woman with plaited hair and wearing a ghagra-choli
with a brocade cap on her head. She carries a child in her arms. In some areas, the
deity wears a sari.
Dakshin Rai cult
The importance of Dakhsin Rai is significant from the social, historical, cultural and
anthropological point of views. In different parts of south 24-Parganas he is depicted
in two different iconographical forms, both made of earth, one depicted him as a
clay model of a human in the likeness of a warrior, dressed in yellow robes and
armed with sword, gun, bow and arrows and the other depicting him as a terracotta
human head with large eyes, a moustache and a leaf-like, conical head-gear.
Fig. 10.1 Gods and Goddesses worshipped by the people of Sundarban mangroves
Dakshin Rai cult
becomes serious during cyclonic depressions, which are very common in Sundarban
delta. For protection of the embankment, people refer to Ganga as the supreme
Goddess.
Bonobibi, the lady of the forest is the female deity of deltaic Sundarbans. She is
the guardian deity of the forests (Fig. 10.2).
Both the Hindu and Muslim communities pay their respects to her before venturing into the forest. Also known as Basuli, Bibi Maa, Biswalakshmi, Bon Durga, or
Bon Kali, she is portrayed by clay modellers either mounted on a tiger or a hen. She
is pretty and graceful, ever eager to protect the people of the Sundarbans. The deity
is often dressed like a Muslim woman with plaited hair and wearing a ghagra-choli
with a brocade cap on her head. She carries a child in her arms. In some areas, the
deity wears a sari.
Dakshin Rai cult
The importance of Dakhsin Rai is significant from the social, historical, cultural and
anthropological point of views. In different parts of south 24-Parganas he is depicted
in two different iconographical forms, both made of earth, one depicted him as a
clay model of a human in the likeness of a warrior, dressed in yellow robes and
armed with sword, gun, bow and arrows and the other depicting him as a terracotta
human head with large eyes, a moustache and a leaf-like, conical head-gear.
Fig. 10.1 Gods and Goddesses worshipped by the people of Sundarban mangroves
Dakshin Rai cult