ABSTRACT
Cholera and dysenteric diseases have been attributed to either malignant spirits or the dissatisfaction of the gods. Cholera was a global threat and a colonial crisis. The devastation of an attack of cholera is experienced as a desecration or vilification of the human body. Bengali Muslims refer to them as the sat bibis, the Seven Ladies. Bengali Muslims living around the Ganges delta were threatened by the disease just as the Hindus and the British were. The Muslim cholera goddess has always been antithetical to Islam. The history and worship of Ola Bibi show, ritual healing does not respond to a faith-based agenda. Ritual devotion as a form of healing remains central to understanding how Bengalis have interpreted the presence of the divine, but also how they cope with chaos, pollution and disaster. The result is a dramatic cultural change of the local substratum, the end of Bengali Islam and the rise of Bangladeshi Islam vis-a-vis West Bengali Islam.
