Galleries : Undying Tales 2021 : UT 5 - Mangroves
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Status: Mangrove forests are essential ecosystems in many parts of the world, and due to climate change and coastal development, one in six mangrove species worldwide are in danger and stark decline. Mangroves are vital in protecting coastal areas from the ravages of tsunamis and erosion, and the support coastal wildlife as a marine habitat. The Sudarbans forest is in the eastern deltas of the Bay of Bengal. Freshwater swamps meet the mangrove forests that edge the sea in a complex tangle of waterways and mudflats. It is home to the Bengal Tiger, as well as many other mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles. Bonbibi is called the Lady of the Forest, and is protectress of the Sudarbans. She is venerated by both Hindus and Muslims who live within the environs of her forests in eastern India and Bangladesh, and she is the guardian of all the plants and creatures in her domain. She can be protector to those who perform the proper rituals respect before they set foot in a perilous excursion into terrain that is treacherous and shaped by the ebb and flow of sea, by weather, and by the cycles of life and death, growth and decay, and filled with predators that are stronger and quicker than humans. Living within her boundaries is to accept those dangers as well as to flourish in the fertile bounty and resources. It is a contrast of the inhospitable yet rich, and an acknowledgment of humankind’s small place within that uncertain wilderness. Reference: Uddin, Sufia M. “Religion, Nature, and Life in the Sundarbans.” Asian Ethnology, vol. 78, no. 2, 2019, pp. 289–310. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26845329. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
Size: 7 x 7 inches Detail closeups:
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