Bangladeshi village’s painted homes become popular tourist attraction

DHAKA: When Daykhon Barman settled in the Bangladeshi village of Tikoli more than three decades ago an artistic renaissance was soon to follow.
Her love of art became infectious among locals with scores of women joining their new neighbor in turning the village, in the country’s northwest, into a colorful community where house walls are decorated with unique patterns and hues.
And the trend has become so popular that the village has now become a tourist attraction.
Wall painting has been practiced by the region’s Hindu community for generations with the external mud walls of houses decorated with red and white motifs.
Daykhon began to explore painting after she married a Tikoli native and moved there from a village in Chapainawabganj district, and she has used nature as her inspiration. She told Arab News: “The traditional red and white motifs looked very monotonous to me. So, I started painting flowers, trees, birds, everything from nature surrounding me.”
She started experimenting with plants and leaves to produce colorful pigments for her artworks and other women soon followed suit, regularly visiting Daykhon to learn the craft.
The decoration styles now change with the seasons and festivals. During Hindu holidays, women from the village decide which patterns and colors to use to fit the occasion and more than half of Tikoli’s 160 properties have Hindu households.
Village council representative, Mohammad Taslim Uddin, said: “Here almost every house of the Hindu community is decorated with wall paintings and a few Muslim houses were also recently decorated.”
The tradition not only brings color to the village but also attracts domestic visitors and foreign tourists.
“Now, every day, we meet 100 to 200 tourists from home and abroad who visit us to see the wall paintings by the village women,” Uddin added.
One of them, Ashraful Alam, a University of Dhaka fine arts student, said he was amazed at how the women had mastered the art.
“I wonder how the village women acquire such a craftsmanship on paintings without any formal education. The paintings on the village walls are really beautiful,” he added.
Daykhon is a perfectionist and to paint her own house takes between two and four weeks. She starts with chalk or pencil sketches on the mud walls and then fills them with color.
“The chances of error are very little in my wall paintings but if I make any small mistakes, I just erase that part and paint it again,” she said.
Having Tikoli become a tourist attraction has motivated local authorities to promote the artform.
Sabiha Sultana, chief administrative officer of Nachole subdistrict, told Arab News: “Tikoli has earned fame as an alpona (colorful motifs painted by Bengali Hindus on special occasions) village.
“Some of the houses are yet to be decorated with paintings, so we are planning to facilitate wall paintings for families of the remaining houses too,” she said.
Daykhon’s neighbor, Nayanmoni Barman, learned the craft from her. She said: “I have also taught this to my eldest daughter. Traditionally the girls are being taught with this skill here.”
Tourists from China, India, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, the UAE, and the US are among those that have traveled to see the village attraction.
“Tourists from different corners of the country visit my village to experience the craftsmanship of our women. To me, it’s a matter of great pride,” Nayanmoni added.