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Shankhari Bazaar শাঁখারী বাজার | |
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Neighborhoods in Dhaka | |
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| Country | Bangladesh |
| Division | Dhaka Division |
| City | Dhaka |
Shankhari Bazaar is one of the oldest areas in Old Dhaka. It stretches along a narrow lane, lined with richly decorated brick buildings, built during the late Mughal or Colonial period. [1]
Shankhari Bazar is located near the intersection of Islampur Road and Nawabpur Road, a block north of the Buriganga River. The place especially belongs to the Bengali Hindus. About 70%–80% of the area's residents are Bengali Hindus, the rest being Muslims.
The area was dominated by the Shankhari community, who derived their name from Shankha, a decorated bangle crafted from slices of Shankha or conch shells. A Shankha bangle is the symbol that indicates that a Hindu woman is married. In the 17th century, the Shankharis (conch shell workers) were reportedly brought to Dhaka by the Mughal emperor, who allotted them this area for settlement; it later became known as Shankhari Bazaar. Shankhari Bazaar is a long narrow street lined by brick buildings of some antiquity. The buildings are about 12 ft wide, 70–100 ft deep and 2–3 storeys high. The greatest height of the buildings is four storeys. Every house used to have a temple room in it.
The Shankhari people are an artisan caste. Their traditional occupation is the preparation of bangles and rings made from slices of conch shell, using specialized tools. Dhaka was for long the main centre of the conch cutting industry in India. [2] In 1971 a massacre carried out by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh War of Liberation greatly reduced the population of Shankharis in Dhaka, and the main centre of the industry is now Kolkata. [3]
According to James Hornell F.L.S., Superintendent of the Pearl and Chank Fisheries to the Government of Madras at the beginning of the 20th century, "The workers belong exclusively to the Sankhari sub-caste of Vaisyas: they appear to be very conservative and have the reputation of being exceedingly clannish." [2] Currently most of the Shankhari people belong to the Vaishnava branch of Hinduism, and some to the Shakta school; many are vegetarian. [4]
The Hindu temples are one of the major attractions of Shankhari Bazar. There are many temples on this narrow street. Over the ages, Shankhari Bazaar has been elevated to the level of the most popular centre for religious festivities. As one of the most densely populated areas in the world Shankhari Bazaar also has the largest concentration of the Hindus in Dhaka. The temples are small in size but well decorated with ornamental motifs on the entrance and on the walls of the temples. The temples contain the statue of goddess Durga, Ganesha, Shiva etc. Durga Puja is the major festival of Hindu people. During Durga puja, people gathers in Shankhari Bazaar to worship and view goddess Durga. Besides Hindu, handful Muslims also attend the Puja. In Durga puja, Shankhari Bazaar looks quite nice because of colourful feston, banner etc. Small and temporary food shops are also built during Durga puja. People from different places come to Shankhari Bazaar to see the Puja.
Pannitola is in the Rakhal Chandra Basak Lane of Shankhari Bazaar. The name Pannitola basically came from the first settling area of the Panniwala, people who used to make the foil of tin. The living style of the Panniwala's was similar to the Shankhari people.
Conch is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal.
Durga Puja also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsav, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated because of Durga's victory over Mahishasura. It is celebrated all over the world by the Hindu community but it is particularly popular and traditionally celebrated in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and the country of Bangladesh. The festival is observed in the Indian calendar month of Ashwin, which corresponds to September–October in the Gregorian calendar. Durga Puja is a ten-day festival, of which the last five are of the most significance. The puja is performed in homes and public, the latter featuring a temporary stage and structural decorations. The festival is also marked by scripture recitations, performance arts, revelry, gift-giving, family visits, feasting, and public processions. Durga Puja is an important festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. Durga Puja in Kolkata has been inscribed on the Intangible cultural heritage list of UNESCO in December of 2021.
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Dhaka District is a district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and rests on the eastern banks of the Buriganga River which flows from the Turag to the southern part of the district. While Dhaka occupies only about a fifth of the area of Dhaka district, it is the economic, political and cultural centre of the district and the country as a whole. Dhaka District consists of Dhaka, Keraniganj, Nababganj, Dohar, Savar and Dhamrai upazila. Dhaka District is an administrative entity, and like many other cities, it does not cover the modern conurbation which is Greater Dhaka, which has spilled into neighbouring districts, nor does the conurbation cover the whole district, as there are rural areas within the district.
A Shankha has religious ritual importance in Hinduism. It is the shell of any suitable sea snail which had a hole made for the performer's embouchure.
Dhaka (Dacca) is one of the oldest inhabited mega cities of the World. The history of Dhaka begins with the existence of urbanised settlements in the area that is now Dhaka dating from the 7th century CE. The city area was ruled by the Hindu Gauda Kingdom, Buddhist and Shaivite Pala Empire before passing to the control of the Hindu Sena dynasty in the 10th century CE. After the Sena dynasty, the city was ruled by the Hindu Deva Dynasty. Dhaka was successively ruled by the Turkic and Afghan governors descending from the Delhi Sultanate, followed by the Bengal Sultanate, before the arrival of the Mughals in 1608. The city became proto-industrialised and declared capital of the Mughal Bengal and commercial (financial) capital of the Mughal India. The Dhaka natural riverine port has a recorded existence since the 16th century CE. Dhaka's strategic riverine location in Bengal made it a hub for Eurasian traders, including Armenians, the Portuguese, French, Dutch and British. The bustling old city was known as the Venice of the East. After Mughals, British ruled the region for 200 years until the independence of India in 1947. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Dhaka became the capital of the new state.
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Hinduism is the largest religious tradition in the Indian state of West Bengal with approximately 70.5% of the population identifying themselves as Hindus. The Hindus in West Bengal mostly belong to the Shakta, minority to Vaishnavite and a small community belong to Shaivite and other denominations. The vast majority of Hindus in West Bengal are Bengali Hindus numbering around 55 million and comprising 60.2% of the state population of 91.35 million (2011) but a notable section of non-Bengali Hindus also exist, particularly among Marwaris, Biharis, Odias, Gurkhas, Sindhis, Gujaratis and various tribal communities such as Koch, Santals, Munda and particularly Adivadis numbering around 9.4 million comprising rest 10.3% of the state population.
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Bengali Hindus are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, and Assam's Barak Valley region. In Bangladesh, they form the largest minority. They are adherents of Hinduism and are native to the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Comprising about one-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ethnic group among Hindus after Hindustani Hindus. Bengali Hindus speak Bengali, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and adhere to Shaktism or Vaishnavism of their native religion Hinduism with some regional deities. There are significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus in different Indian states. According to the census in 1881, 12.81 percent of Bengali Hindus belonged to the upper castes.
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