Rima Barman drew a dinosaur on a wall of her house, not to spoil it. It was rather her contribution to adorning her house with traditional art called alpona.

Like Rima's, more than fifty houses at Tikoil village in Nachole upazila of Chapainawabganj are decorated with colourful motifs drawn by older and younger female generations.

The aesthetic work on exterior walls of the houses has drawn people's attention and has become so famous that the village is known as “Alpona Gram”, 27 kilometers away from the district headquarters.

The artwork is also done on interior walls and floors of the houses.

Another woman working inside a similar home nearby. Many women in the village decorate the walls of their home with such colourful motifs, attracting visitors. Photo: Rabiul Hasan

Daykhon Bala Barman, grandmother of 10th grader Rima, has been doing this artwork for long. In her childhood and even later she used to draw motifs with a liquid of rice powder, flour, chalk powder, turmeric and vermilion, she said.

But now chemical colours are so available in local markets that her daughters and granddaughters use them to decorate the house.

During a recent visit, this correspondent saw all houses of Hindu families in the village have alpona drawn on their walls.

Nearly one-third of the villagers are Hindus, and the others appreciate the artwork done by them.

Housewives Bandona Barman and Nayanmoni Barman said they usually decorate their houses with alpona during religious festivals like Durga puja, Swaraswati puja, Laxmi puja and Kali puja and other festivals like Nabanna Utsab, Pahela Baishakh and wedding ceremony.

“I have been seeing this [alpona] since my childhood…. Our women and girls are keeping alive the traditional art,” said Rabindranath Barman, a farmer.

Many visitors from different areas in the district and neighbouring districts come to the village to see the folk art.

Rima said she learnt the art from her grandmother.

Airin Akhtar, an employee of a non-government organisation in neighbouring Kajol Keshar village, often visits “Alpona Gram” only to see the decorative work.

“The art is dominant in all homes [of Hindus]” irrespective of they be rich or poor, she said, adding that the legacy is passed on from one generation to another. 

The village is famous for its traditional alpona and communal harmony, said Nitai Chandra Barman, former chairman of Nejampur union parishad.