Seventh grader Bishoka Tudu along with her sister Ashanti Tudu drew flower and leaves on the wall of their house.

Like them, 15 houses of the indigenous Kole community at Bilboiltha village, some 12 kilometres away from Chapainawabganj town, are decorated with colourful motifs drawn by older and younger female generations.

They adorn their houses with traditional art called alpona on the occasion of Durga Puja. They called it Dansey. Dansey means Durga in Kole language.

The women of the village paint alpona on the mud walls and floors of houses and it lasts all year round. They have been doing the traditional artwork for long.

During a visit to the village in Sadar upazila on Friday, this correspondent saw that women from the indigenous Kole community painted colourful alpona on the exterior and interior walls of their houses.

Housewife Fulboti Murmu said they usually decorated their house with the tradition artwork during different religious festivals like Durga Puja and other festivals like wedding ceremony.

Saroda Rani Hasdak, a primary schoolteacher, said "I have been seeing it (alpona) since my childhood. Our women and girls are keeping alive the traditional art."

"We have been painting decorative motifs on the walls of the house since long time and it is a part of our culture," said Saroda, also an alpona artiste.

They draw motifs with a liquid of rice powder, flour, chalk powder, turmeric and vermilion, she said.

"But for the first time in this year, we used different chemical colours to paint alpona as the material is available in the local markets," she added.

Locals said there are a small forest and a tourist spot, Babudaying, near Bilboiltha village. Many visitors from different areas in the district and neighbouring districts come to the village to see the folk art.

"As many tourists come to the village to see the artwork, we decorate our houses to draw their attraction," said Saroda Rani.

Bijlu Kole, head of the Kole community, said "People of our Kole community, especially women, have kept alive the traditional folk art."

They usually decorate their houses with alpona during religious festivals like Durga puja, said Bijlu, adding that such painting legacy is passed on from one generation to another.