Antarleena Bhattacharjee

Guest Faculty
Department of History
Darjeeling Hills University

BIO

Antarleena Bhattacharjee is currently working as a Guest Faculty, Department of History, Darjeeling Hills University, Mungpoo, West Bengal. She has obtained her P.G. and M.Phil. degrees from the Department of History, University of North Bengal. Her area of specialisation is Ancient Indian History and Early Medieval Indian History. She is a Doctoral student at the Department of History, University of North Bengal. Her Doctoral Research is on ‘A Study of Śakti and Śaiva Cult in the Northern part of Bengal from Early Medieval to Late Medieval Period’ and her M.Phil. dissertation focuses on ‘A Study of Popular Deities of North Bengal with special reference to Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri’.

EDUCATION

PhD.- Department of History, University of North Bengal, 2022-2025 (Thesis submitted)

MPhil- Department of History, University of North Bengal, 2017-2019.
(Dissertation Title- A Study of Popular Deities of North Bengal with special reference to Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri)

Post Graduation- Department of History, University of North Bengal, 2015-1017.

Under Graduation- BA (Honours) A.B.N Seal College, Coochbehar (Affiliated to University of North Bengal), 2012-2015.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Ancient and Early Medieval Indian History

Sculpture and Iconography

Religious and Cult History

Regional History and Folk Culture

EXPERIENCE

Worked as a Visiting Guest Faculty at Uttarbanga Maheshwari College (Affiliated to University of North Bengal) for one academic year. (20th August,2024-23rd July,2025).

Acted as rapporteur and technical assistant in the Refresher Course on Disaster, Sustainability and SDGs held from 16th February to 1st March, 2024, organised by UGC Malaviya Mission Teachers Training Centre, University of North Bengal.

Acted as a technical assistant to the edited volume ‘History and Thought of India: Essays in Memory of Prof. P.K. Bhattacharyya’ edited by Anita Bagchi, Shyamal Guharoy, Nurul Islam, Sudash Lama, first published in 2022.

PUBLICATIONS

Popular Deities of Northern part of Bengal: A Case Study of Ai-Ho Rani and Devi Chowdhurani” in Victorian Journal of Arts, vol. XII, Issue I, January 2019. ISSN: 0975- 5632. [ UGC Care Listed].

Revisiting the Cult of Petkati Mao: An Iconographic Study” in Victorian Journal of Arts, vol. XIII, Issue II, July 2020, ISSN: 0975- 5632.

A Study of Selected Popular Deities of Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar: An Explicit Survey of Aboriginal Religious Belief System” in ‘ Of Hills and Plains of North Bengal: A Panoply of Socio- Economic, Cultural and Political Issues ‘, edited by Malaysankar Bhattacharyya, Tapas Kr. Chatterjee, Anandagopal Ghosh, Malay K. Karanjau, First Published: March 2022, ISBN: 978-93 84101-60-2.

“The Trinity of Goddess: A Study of the process of Appropriation of the three aniconic Sakti Cults in Koch-Kamta region through Historical Lenses” in The Historical Review published by Indian Institute of Oriental Studies and Research, 2022, Vol. XXX, ISSN- 0970-3314.

“A Study of the Inter-Regional and Intra-Regional Differentiation of the Nature of the Popular Cults: Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri in Perspectives” in ” Reflections on the Cultural History of Bengal” edited by Dr Kartik Chandra Sutradhar & Dr Ratna Paul; First Published November 2023, ISBN: 978-93-92816-84-0.

Bhitarkuthi Terracotta Shivmandir: Ek Ananya Sadharon o Bimisra Koch Sthapatyashaili” ” in Samaj Jijnasa, Vol 17, 2024, ISSN: 2321-158X [UGC Care Listed].

The Sacred Abode of the Goddess”: A Study of the Trisrota Mahāpitha in Koch-Kamta Region ” in Journal of Indian History and Culture, C.P Ramaswami Aiyar Institute of Indological Research (Affiliated to the University of Madras), Issue 34, December 2024, ISSN: 0975-7805 [UGC Care Listed Journal].

Loukik Dev-Devir Utsa Sondhane: Prasanga Jalpaiguri Jela” in Banglar Prantik O Loukik Sanskritir Sondhane, vol 1 edited by Malaysankar Bhattacharya & Mrigen Sarkar; First Published January, 2025, ISBN: 978-93-94389-38-0.

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

“Devi Manthali- A Popular Cult of Jalpaiguri: An Explicit Survey to Aboriginal Religious Beliefs”. Paper presented at Two Days International Seminar on ” Negotiations between the Local and the Global in Cultural Bengal: Community, Social and Politics” (13th and 14th February, 2019) organised by Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, A.B.N Seal College, Coochbehar.

“Revisiting the Cult of ‘Petkati Mao’: An Iconographic Study”. Paper presented at One Day National Seminar on ” Less Explored Archaeological Sites and Objects of North Bengal” (12th March, 2019) organised by AKMH Museum, University of North Bengal.

“Popular Deities of Northern part of Bengal: A Case Study of few selected Deities of Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar”. Paper presented at 4th International Seminar on ” Exploring the History of Adivasis, Dalits and Minorities in India” (26th April, 2019), organised by the Department of History, University of Gour Banga.

“Two Popular Deities of Jalpaiguri: An Explicit Survey to Aboriginal Religious Beliefs”. Paper presented at Two-Day International Seminar on “Understanding South Asia and South- East Asia- A Historical Perspective” (16th and 17th May, 2019) organised by Department of History, University of North Bengal.

“Origin and Development of the Aniconic Shakti cult in Koch-Kamta region: Special emphasis upon the ‘Trinity of Goddess’”. Paper presented at two-day National Seminar on “An Inter-temporal Discourse upon the Society, Culture, Polity and Economy of North Eastern and Eastern India” organised by A.B.N Seal College, Coochbehar, Sponsored by ICSSR, New Delhi, held on 27th & 28th February, 2020.

“Kamta-Koch Rajjye Saiva Dhormo o Chetonar Udbhab o Kromobikash: Ekti Itihasmulok Paryalochona”. Paper presented at 38th Annual Conference of Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad (17th-19th February, 2023).

“Kamta-Koch Ancholer Shakti Kshetra: Ekti Itihasmulok Sameeksha”. Paper presented at 6th Annual International Conference of Bangiya Itihas Samiti, Kolkata, (25th & 26th March, 2023) .

“A Peep into the Autochthonous Belief System: Historical Analysis of the Popular Female Deities of Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri”. Paper presented at One Day International Conference on “Society and Culture of Bengal Through the Ages organised by Garia Society for Studies of Marginal People in collaboration with Department of History, Gobardanga Hindu College on 5th May, 2023.

“Tin Ishwari Kotha: Kamrup-Kamta Ancholer Duti Shakti Peether Anusondhan Vittik Alochona”. Paper presented at 40th Annual Conference of Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad (17th-19th January, 2025).

Participated in One Day International Workshop on ” What Do We See When See? Talking About Prejudices and Stereotypes” (13th February, 2019) organised by Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, A.B.N Seal College, Coochbehar.

Participated in “A Seven-Day International Skill Enhancement Workshop on “Is Archaeology Dying? The Imperativeness of Archaeological Techniques in History and Other Social Sciences”, Organised by the Department of History in collaboration with AKMH Museum and IQAC, University of North Bengal.

Participated in the module “Sculpture and Iconography” of the course ‘Sources of Heritage’ (20th- 25th July, 2020) conducted by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Collaboration with Heritage India Communications Pvt. Ltd. And Nyansa.

Participated in the seven-day online workshop on “Studying History: Perspectives and Sources” organised by the Department of History, Jadavpur University from 23rd February to 1st March, 2023.

Participated in the eight-day online workshop on “Crafting the Past: Methods and Approaches in History Writing” organised by the Research and Development Cell, Panchakot Mahavidyalaya, Purulia, from 12th January to 19th January, 2026.

Participated in a six-day workshop on Myriad Culture, Epistemic and Linguistic Experiences of Bengal jointly organised by the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, Institute of Language Studies and Research (ILSR), Kolkata and UGC Malaviya Mission Teachers Training Centre, University of North Bengal from 9th-14th February, 2026.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Awarded Junior Research Fellowship, State Fellow by the University of North Bengal in December 2022.

Awarded UGC-NET in History in 2022 and WB-SET in History in 2020.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Act as a Resource Person (The Internship Programme organized by the N.B.U.A.K.M. Heritage Museum, University of North Bengal on 16/10/2025)