Culinary Communion: Decoding the Interplay of Rituals and Food in Chitrita Banerji's The Hour of the Goddess

Culture in India is a rich tapestry of beliefs, behaviours, customs, traditions, and values that are manifested through music, dance, theatre, storytelling, and festivals, to name a few. These festivals and ceremonies are not just events but are marked by certain acts or series of acts called rituals. These rituals, performed with devotion and reverence, add spirituality to human life. This study explores the world of rituals in Chitrita Banerji’s The Hour of the Goddess: Memories of Women, Food, and Ritual in Bengal (2001), in which food plays a significant role as offerings to gods. It explores the Bengali culture through the culinary pathways with elaborate depictions of cooking utensils, kitchen tools and dining practices and women’s role in food preparation during rituals in Bengali homes. Focusing on the socio-cultural aspect, the paper inspects the intricate relationship between food and rituals presented in the work and examine the negotiation of different culinary practices through foodscapes. The research methodology employed to study these aspects is an exploratory and textual analysis of the selected novel. The present study offers implications for a deeper comprehension of cultural heritage through culinary practices.