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The Depository documents 14 techniques in Bangladesh; by risk level: 5 critically endangered, 8 endangered, 1 vulnerable. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.
Phuti karpas (ফুটি কার্পাস) is the specific cotton variety that produced Dhaka's legendary muslin — a cotton so fine that a full sari (5.5m) could be folded and passed through a signet ring, or stored in a matchbox.
Jamdani (জামদানি) is the supplementary weft muslin woven on the banks of the Shitalakshya river near Narayanganj — the surviving peak of the Dhaka muslin tradition that produced what Mughal court records called 'woven air' and European…
Rajshahi silk (রাজশাহী রেশম) is Bangladesh's indigenous mulberry silk tradition — centered on Rajshahi Division in northwestern Bangladesh, where the specific microclimate and the local Morus multicaulis mulberry variety produce a silk…
Shital pati (শীতল পাটি — 'cool mat') is the fine reed mat tradition of Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh — woven from the murta plant (Schumannianthus dichotoma), whose reed fibers produce a mat of extraordinary coolness against…
Kantha (কাঁথা) is the Bengali tradition of stitching old cotton saris into layered quilted textiles using the running stitch — simultaneously quilting the layers together and creating the surface decoration.
Nakshi kantha (নকশী কাঁথা — 'patterned kantha') is the pictorial narrative variant of kantha (CRAFT-0627) — distinguished from ordinary kantha by the deliberate composition of figurative scenes drawn from Hindu mythology, rural Bengali…
Bangladeshi jori (জরি) is the gold and silver metal thread embroidery tradition practiced on Rajshahi silk base — distinct from Indian zari in working on the specific Rajshahi silk surface with its characteristic slight irregularity, which…
A performative narrative art form combining hand-painted cloth scrolls with sung storytelling, practiced continuously in the Bengal cultural region — including present-day Bangladesh — since at least the 12th century according to…
The hand-painting and decoration of Dhaka's iconic three-wheeled cycle rickshaws — a form of moving public folk art recognized by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2023 as…
Dhamrai (ধামরাই) is a township 35km west of Dhaka that has been Bangladesh's primary center of bell metal (kasa — an alloy of copper and tin at approximately 78:22 ratio) and bronze casting for centuries, producing household vessels,…
Shankhari Bazaar (শাঁখারী বাজার) — 'conch seller's market' — is one of the last surviving conch shell carving districts in the world, occupying a single street in old Dhaka where hereditary Hindu Shankhari families have carved conch shell…
Bangladesh's bamboo and cane (bash o bet) craft tradition is one of the most active in South Asia — the country's bamboo-rich wetland and hill zones supporting a tradition with distinct regional vocabularies ranging from Sylhet's…
Bangladesh's terracotta (পোড়ামাটি — 'burned clay') tradition produces the figurines, decorative panels, and ritual objects that have been central to Bengal folk religion and Hindu practice for thousands of years — most visibly in the…
The nauka (নৌকা) — Bangladesh's traditional wooden river boat — is the most ecologically specific craft tradition in the database: the hull form, materials, and construction method are all calibrated to the specific hydrodynamics of the…