Research: The Worship of Goddess Manasā: Gender and Resilience in Bengal.
Research project abstract:
In the Ganges Delta region, at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, the Hindu-Brahmanical worship of a snake goddess known as Manasā emerged and flourished from the 11th century onward. The goddess is praised during the monsoon period as both an ambiguous, loving mother who saves from the venom of snakes and cures infertility in the soil and the womb, as well as a ruthless being who, out of anger, strikes down those who don't worship her with death by snakebite, infertility, and illness.
The targets of Manasā’s blessing or curse are mostly Hindu women. Their duty is to appropriately celebrate her by keeping their bodies and souls ‘pure’ according to Śāstric ethics, in order to ensure the goddess’s mercy on their families and communities. If not, Manasā will punish them with barrenness, the death of their husbands and children by the attack of snakes, diseases, and economic problems. In those cases, Bengali Hindu women experience significant marginalisation since accidental and tragic events are often interpreted as consequences of immoral sexual conduct that irritates the deities, who strike the bodies of the guilty ones. Women who have experienced these hardships also perform such rituals, confronting the stigma they face daily. These women find in the ritual dimension an ambiguous space that both reinforces gender roles and social differences while also providing an opportunity for action. This action can be taken by both religious experts, who are healers who master traditional medical and gynaecological esoteric knowledge, and worshippers who seek their help to properly please the deity and fulfil their religious and cultural duties.
This work aims to investigate the strategies of resilience and socioeconomic empowerment associated with the worship of the snake-goddess Manasā, practised by Hindu women in cases of diseases, widowhood and infertility in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, where women engage in both medical and devotional activities connected to Manasā.
Research interests: Gender and Religion, Medical Anthropology, Religious Studies.
Curriculum Vitae:
11/2023 - Today: Ph.D. student in Civilizations of Asia and Africa at the Italian Department of Oriental Studies (ISO), Sapienza University of Rome
Title of the project: The Worship of Goddess Manasā and Environmentalism: Strategies of Resistance in the Delta Region of Bengal (provisional).
10/2019 - 09/2022: M.A. in Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Sapienza University of Rome
Curriculum Hindi Language
Title of the project: The Bengali Goddess of Snakes and the Ambiguous Power of Her Devotees.
10/2016 - 12/2019: B.A. in Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Sapienza University of Rome
Curriculum Hindi language
Title of the project: Women’s Silences: The Madness of Partition in Maṇṭo's Short Story "Khol Do".