S4E166: The Woman Who Raised the Buddha: Maria Denjongpa on Her Debut Novel, Motherhood & Sikkim
She raised the Buddha, and history barely remembers her name. In this episode, author and paper-mâché artist Maria Denjongpa joins Sangeeta Relan to talk about her debut novel, The Girl Who Became a Buddha, and the real woman behind it: Pajapati, the aunt who became mother to Siddhartha after her sister Maya’s death. Maria opens up about writing a 5th-century-BCE woman’s grief and duty, what Pajapati would say to women scrolling through guilt on their phones today, and her own journey, from Massachusetts to Brown University to building Taktse International School in Sikkim with her husband Sonam. She also talks about her paper-mâché art, thirteen years of teaching, and what it means to become a storyteller all over again as a grandmother. Stick around for The Reveal, our quick-fire round with Maria.
The AboutHer Show is ranked in the Top 3 Indian Women’s Leadership Podcasts (Feedspot, 2026).
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About the Author: Sangeeta Relan
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I’m Sangeeta Relan—an educator, writer, podcaster, researcher, and the founder of AboutHer. With over 30 years of experience teaching at the university level, I’ve also journeyed through life as a corporate wife, a mother, and now, a storyteller.
