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Inktober Day 31 : Award

Medium : Digital Ink, G Pen

In the folklore of the Sunderbans, there's a boy named Dukhe who goes into the deep deep forest with a fleet of honey collecters (mouli). The only one who prayed to Bonbibi for protection against the tiger of the deep forests, Dakkhin Rai and the one who survives the trip, other than one of the lead mouli, Dhona. He is awarded in riches, wax, honey, and Dhona's daughter, Champa's hand in marriage.

This Inktober, I used the prompts to explore South Asia's folk traditions!

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Thank you for sticking till the end! This was a fun ride and hoping to do something similar again next year!

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Folk Goddesses of Bengal

বনবিবি (rom. Bonbibi)

In the sparse region that confines the largest mangrove forest on Earth is the Sundarbans. The delta of the mighty Ganga, Brahmaputra and the sisterly Meghna is the region of co-existence between man and the wild. Bonbibi is the protectress of the forest, the wild, the bees, the birds, and the people. She represents the bounty of the forest, and her foe the tiger king Dakhin Rai, the hazards of the same. Her fierce battle with the evil Dakhin Rai has been inspirations for many. She doesn't differentiate between who pray to her, the hindu, muslim, christian. Just as the forest doesn't differentiate between who it welcomes, or who it discards. The forest, and the rivers form the livelihood for the forest dwellers, who pray to the mistress of bees, tigers and the creatures of the forest before embarking of their daily hunt for bread. However, the goddess has one condition, for she is the mother of all of the forest,

"Take what you require, not more not less. Don't harm the forest, and no harm must come to you."

A simple norm by which those who enter the delta, must abide by. A simple norm, which we all must abide by.

(picture credit to the owners)