Research: The Worship of Goddess Manasā and Environmentalism: Strategies of Resistance in the Delta Region of Bengal (provisional)
Research project abstract:
The activities envisaged by the Hindu cult practice dedicated to Manasā, the snake goddess of Bengal, revolve around the practice of traditional medicine, the protection of natural sacred spaces, trees, and medicinal plants, to symbolically regulate the natural dissipative power through references to the nurturing force of motherhood. The impossibility of having children and the loss of a husband, especially due to attacks of wild animals - such as snakes - cause Bengali Hindu women to experience great marginalization, since the stigma associated with infertility and widowhood is considered a consequence of bad conduct that irritates the deities, who strike the bodies of the guilty ones. This project therefore aims to investigate the strategies of resilience and socioeconomic actions in the context of the cult of Manasā, implemented by Hindu women in the event of widowhood and/or infertility through environmental and biodiversity protection activities in the Delta areas of Bengal.
Research interests: Gender and Religion, Art, and Literature in Contemporary South Asia.
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".