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Today is Saraswati Puja and also the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Standing at this significant moment, while enjoying the traditional khichuri served as an invitation meal during Saraswati Puja, I was chatting with the cook from Biyen. During that conversation, he mentioned two archaeological objects that were found while digging his pond—about […]
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বাঘ, বাঘের জঙ্গল ও নারীসুন্দরবনের জঙ্গল লাগোয়া জনপদগুলির বিশ্বাসচক্র মাতৃতান্ত্রিক, বনদেবী-বনবিবি-বিশালাক্ষ্মী তার শীর্ষে। বাঘের জঙ্গল, কুমির কামোটের জলে জীবনমৃত্যু ঘেরা দৈনিক সংগ্রাম মাতৃরূপ আরাধনাকে ঘিরে।অথচ, জঙ্গল সুন্দরবনের এক আশ্চর্য বৈপরীত্য এই যে জঙ্গলে যাওয়া মহিলার সংখ্যা পুরুষ অনুপাতে খুব কম। জঙ্গলের পথ মহিলাদের জন্য অনেকাংশেই রুদ্ধ। তার স্বাভাবিক কারণ একাধিক - জঙ্গলের বেশ কিছু কাজের […]
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(Part One) April, 1997. A little-known village in the Sundarbans named Purkaiter Chak suddenly became the center of attention. While excavating a pond, local residents unearthed a beautifully crafted sculptural image made of smooth black basalt stone bearing an inscription. The sculpture, about two feet high, was visually striking. Its lower portion was shaped like […]
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This was a day of huge, grey sheets of rainclouds that had wrapped Sundarban. In a desolate canal with the dripping woods nearby, our eyes found this pair. The skies were crying and the forest, just a breath away, was bathed in an ethereal shade of green which contrasted the alluring greyness above.Monitor lizards become […]
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Once, during the reclamation and settlement of jungle land in Lot No. 23 of Barivhangabad, which was formerly part of the Sundarbans, three Vishnu idols and a bronze ten-armed idol were discovered from the ruins of a royal structure. It is noteworthy that the settlement got the name Barivhangabad from the vast ruined brick building […]
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Sundarban swampland is often described with interesting epithets and one of these is - it is that unique place where roots grow out of the ground and fish climb trees.Fish climbing trees, a curious phenomenon here, refers to mudksippers.They are amphibious fish, any of the numerous extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae […]
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Three archaeological sites have been identified in the tiger-inhabited island region of West Bengal from where, between about 2,200 and 1,700 years ago, golden beads were exported to various ports both within India and abroad. These beads were produced using a unique and sophisticated technique. Archaeologists refer to this type of bead as gold foil. […]
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The ' keora' fruit is a gift of the rains in Sundarban. I find it immensely popular in forest - adjoining Sundarban in the two Parganas as well as all places which carry the legacy of Sundarbani or Aabaadi culture, food and history. Its characteristics and medicinal values have been discussed often. During my stints at […]
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A massive, well-protected naval fortress in the kingdom of tigers? And not from the medieval or modern period—but from very early historical times? Could such a thing really be believable? When I first heard a vague description of it from a boatman in the late 1980s, I dismissed it as nothing more than a tall […]
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The Dog - faced snake (Cerberus rynchops),, is a mildly venomous species belonging to the Homalopsidae family.It is known by a number of names as the New Guinea bockadam, South Asian bockadam, bockadam snake, or dog-faced water snake. It is perfectly suited for the wet, muddy Sundarban habitat. The nostrils of this species are higher […]
