River culture is the rhythmic pulse of the Bengal Delta (commentary)

Rivers, as Bengal’s nurturing mother, shaped the soul of this land and cultural landscape. The ever-flowing water and fertile sediments formed the entire Bengal region, nourishing the Indus Valley civilization to today’s Bengali civilization. Over centuries, from sediments to sentiments to culture, rivers sketched this delta’s people’s values and belief system, art and literature, and countless folk tales.

The mighty Indus and Ganges rivers, each stretching from the great Himalayas, scratched a 700,000 km2 fertile plain, the Indo-Gangetic Plain. These rivers like artists created a painting of development with their rich sediments, known as the Indus Valley Civilization. Based on some dominant opinions, natural forces spelled the end of this civilization, whether from a devastating earthquake or relentless flooding or other climatic factors. By around 1700 BCE, most inhabitants abandoned the Indus Valley in search of safer grounds, migrating to the Ganges Valley.

For millennia, people living on the banks of the Indus, historically known as Hindus, fostered a deep spiritual bonding with it. They embraced ‘river religion’ as the way of life, fabricating Bengal’s folklore and traditions long before the Sonaton (old) Dharma (religion), and other religions’ rooted in the Bengal Delta, flowed from the banks of the Indus to the Ganges.

The dynamic process of delta formation gave birth to the ever-changing deltaic landscape of Bengal, bridging the current Bangladesh to India’s West Bengal. The waterways of Bengal always unified the two countries, bringing culture and communities together. Both the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, originating from the Himalayas, drifted large amounts of sediments and contributed to the emergence of the Bengal Delta. These two rivers nurtured the delta as their child, carrying the silt-laden gift, all the way to Bay of Bengal.

Bengal’s human culture is ingrained in the gratitude towards life-giving rivers. If rivers are dominated and disappear, then what would happen to the deltaic civilization in Bengal? What would be the source of identity for these people after washing the riverine civilization away?

Riverine tapestry: Fish, rice, and river rhythms

Bengal people had a rich heritage of fish production and consumption, and agriculture. Broadly, every dweller of this delta owned the identity of ‘Mach-e-Vaat-e-Bangali’ (Bengali living on fish and rice). In Bengali culture, fish outshines its portrayal just as a means of survival, continuing as the source of a vibrant community’s heritage and spirits. Every Bengali holds a deep-rooted attachment to fish, so it is a core element of daily life, religion and social customs. Fish represent fertility, prosperity, and abundance on the occasion of birth and wedding ceremonies, and symbolize remembrance and respect at death.

Bengal’s legacy of cultivating rice dates back over 4,000 years, presenting a heavenly surrounding of composed deltaic sediments and ever-shifting water landscape blessed with regular floods. We can recall the food habit of one of the oldest inhabitants of the Bengal Delta, Rajbangsis, who used to eat rice two or three times daily. Rice is offered on different special occasions as sacred food and divine gift, deeply ingrained in the socio-religious traditions.

Bengalis’ unique repository of literacy and art – ‘river literature’ – melodiously touched every bit of joy, sorrow, and struggle of riparian communities. Poets, novelists, and singers, inspired by their love for rivers, transformed their inner spirit-led literacy into a treasure trove of riverine art.

Debesh Roy, an influential Bengali-Indian writer and scholar, touched every aspect of riparian communities life on the bank of the Teesta River, in his two artistic novels, ‘Teesta Parer Brittanto’ (Description of the Bank of Teesta) and ‘Teesta Puran’ (Mythology of Teesta). He portrayed the Rajbangsi community, who obeyed the ever-changing landscapes of the river Teesta’s rules and utilized the resources of the Teesta residing on the edge of the forest and hills. They never defied the dominion of the mighty Teesta.

Manik Bandopadhyay’s revolutionary novel ‘Padma Nadir Majhi’ (Padma River’s Boatman) painted an evocative picture of the lives of fishermen and boatmen on the Padma River, unearthing their resilience and adaptation to the turns and twists of the river Padma. While portraying the fisherfolk’s joys, sorrows, and struggles revolving around the river Titas, Adwaita Mallabarman also penned foreign cultures’ adverse impact on their culture and life, in his popular novel, ‘Titas Ekti Nodir Naam’ (A River Called Titas). Popular festivals like Jatrapala, Noika Baich (boat race), and folk songs like Murshida Baul songs, Puthi, Radha-Krishna Prem Lila (Radha-Krishna’s love story as drama) are further artistically articulated in this novel.

All genres of Bengali folk songs notably explore the riverine lifestyle. Bhawaiya songs manifest all aspects of Rajbangsi life – from socio-political and economic settings to romantic expressions, often threatening the middle-class Brahman, patriarchal attitude against the expressive culture of the Rajbangsi women. Bhatiari and Sari songs remarkably preserve the plentiful fish culture and its significant role in shaping riparian lives. Another unique and mystical sect emerged in the heart of the Bengal Delta, where diverse cultures and religions converged – the Sahajiya tradition, embracing Vaisnavas and Buddhists, and Muslim Sufis. Sahajiya tantrics, Bauls, and Muslim fakis enriched the Murshidi, Marefati, Baul, and also Jari songs, as a form of prayer, connecting to the divine through nature.

Divine waterways of Bengal

In primitive Hindu communities, rivers were revered as goddesses, flowing with bountiful blessings, meaning and rhythm. These rivers were worshipped as symbols of gratitude, integrating the principle of religious ecology, with nature as an inseparable part of the divine. Hence, the names of the rivers changed with their changing flows and courses, but the divinity residing within them remained unchanged.

According to Hindu mythology, Ganga is not any simple river, rather it is India’s archetype of sacred waters. Her story is present in the ancient methodological literature, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Long ago, through his relentless penance, Bengal’s great man Bhagirath convinced and guided Goddess Ganga to descend from heaven to earth with her sacred water. The holiness of her flow blessed the land with fertility and abundance, bringing peace and ease to riparian lives. Every stretch of the river is a Tirtha (pilgrimage) place where devotees bathe to cleanse their sins of 10 lifetimes on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra. Significant regional traditions like Ganga Sagara Mela, Ganga Puja, and the UNESCO-recognized Kumbh Mela also revolve around Ganga.

The Vedic literature depicts the river Saraswati as the goddess of supreme knowledge, forgiveness, and benediction. Though virtually dried up now, her legacy as the flow of wisdom and purification still remains integral to religious rituals. Followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism worship Brahmaputra, the only male river, performing different colorful rituals. Also, Hindus regard him as the son of lord Brahma.

Riparian Muslims use river water before prayer to cleanse both body and soul, believing in the purifying power of the blessed waters. In the Aini-Akbari book, Abul Fazl recorded Mughal Emperor Akbar’s spiritual attachment with the Ganga, marking the emperor’s habit of drinking Ganga’s waters for blessings, at home and on travels.

Another noteworthy festival is Bera Bhasan (sending out rafts), as it exceptionally links agrarian and riverine communities, and unites Muslims and Hindus. Arab traders introduced this ritual as an act of prayer for safety before embarking on trade journeys. Also, Hindu peasants observe sedo, a version of bera bhasan on the final day of Pous for a bountiful harvest. In 1690, Bengal’s Nawab Murshid Quli Khan started the festival in honor of Saint Khawja Khizir, known as ‘the Pir of water’. Various Muslim saints’ shrines situated on the mouth, and confluence of important rivers, further signifying the sacred status of rivers.

Indigenous communities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and North Bengal hilly regions also begin their ‘Boishabi’ (new year) celebration by sending flowers out upon rivers to release the past year’s disgraces and sorrows, and welcome the new year with good wishes.

Restoring Bengal Delta’s riverine soul

For generations, the rivers of Bengal were worshipped as alive, sacred beings – a belief that faded away with the human tendency to dominate the rivers, rather than co-existing with them. British colonial expansion determined to modernize the region, though, to lift Bengal people out of poverty and tame the floods.

Afterwards, the 1947 partition sliced Bengal into two portions – East Pakistan (current Bangladesh) and West Bengal in India, flaming up a bitter enmity over the rivers. Locked in a tug-of-war situation, Bangladesh and India eventually erected barrages like Farakka and Teesta, clogging the lifeblood of the delta. This thirst for control intensified after the Cold War, and Bengal rivers witnessed the western imperialist paw of massive permanent infrastructure development, disregarding the delicate balance of the riverine ecosystems.

Unplanned industrial growth and reckless development further de-sacred-ed the sacred waterways. From pollution, sand mining, and industrial dumping emerged a new reality of Bengal during the last few decades. Now, the Bisorjon (bidding farewell to the deities) and Purnosnan (sacred bath) still linger, though people have lost their reverence for the rivers: waters are no longer the holy source of life they once were.

Ironically – though they present a testament to enduring faith, but also disconnection between relevance and responsibility – grand temples are still on the banks of the rivers, without considering the health of the rivers while contaminating the riverine life and culture.

General Secretary of the Riverine People, Sheikh Rokon, has rightly pointed out that drifting away from riverine culture – primarily detachment from the ‘Mach-e-Vaat-e-Bangali’ identity – is at the heart of Bengal’s river crisis. To safeguard our lifeline rivers, there is no alternative to reviving our riverine culture and principle of religious ecology.

Here are some measures to take:

• First, the Educational Ministry, Cultural Ministry, and Environmental Ministry should work together for embedding rich river literatures and riparian stories in Bangladesh’s educational curricula. It will foster a deep appreciation for rivers and riparian culture among young generations from an early age.
• Second, arranging river-based festivals, locally and nationally, will restore the bond between people and rivers. Celebrations like world rivers day, national river culture day, action day for rivers, and others will help people commemorate the cultural and religious practices related to rivers.
• Third, the government, organizations and individuals should work to strengthen solidarity among locals to resist exploitation of rivers and restore their river-centered values, beliefs, and traditions.

In conclusion, Bengal’s unique culture of coexistence and religious–ecological harmony among the deltaic communities, shaped by the rulers and traders from different parts of the world, is endangered. Colonial exploitation severed the flow of motherly rivers, disconnecting people from their riverine pulse.

To keep Bengal breathing, it is crucial to explore and revive the cultural aspects of rivers, ensuring continuous nourishment of Bengal’s riverine identity.

Umme Sayeda is a researcher and advocate for ecological justice who founded the Ecological Policy Nexus (EPN) and currently works with the Catalyzing Sustainable Transformation (CAST) Network, an action and policy research institute, and Climate Watch, the first environmental and climate news hub in Bangladesh.

Banner image: Manpura Island. Image courtesy of Ammar Bin Asad.

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