By 1844 shells were still coming from the Maldives to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Bengal, but Chittagong (now Bangladesh) and Calcutta had now replaced Balasore as the destination. Finally, by the time of World War I, this cowrie trade between Maldives and Bengal region had died down.

Several folktales from across the Indian sub-continent also speak about respect and honour of one’s elderly parents. The concept is also seen in Theravada Buddhism, often referred as 'the doctrine of the elders' (of the senior Buddhist monks). Thus, reverberations of the concept of filial piety are seen in spiritualism and folklore of South,…

This story is often said to have encouraged the introduction of the word ‘serendip’ into the English dictionary, marking January 28 to be remembered as the day when the word entered the dictionary. 

As busy evenings of youngsters flock over to Roopkawthar Kabbo, the narrative of the legend from yesteryears reverberates through each cup served and, for the uninitiated, these cups are the connecting dots of time when an answer comes with the query of “Who is this?”.

This is the story of the beginning of the oldest clock tower in Asia and the only lighthouse clock tower in the world.

We keep mentioning and talking about our unpleasant experiences often. They are also frequently important to bring focus on specific issues, but it is also equally important to speak about the good ones - ones that make you happy and amazed at the same time.

Transcending narrow geographical borders, handicrafts often make their own presence felt as a representation of humanity, connecting communities. One such important handicraft item is the dry grass mats of the region of South Asia

Over the years, these relate to representations of various regions of eastern India and, at times, the extended and larger region of erstwhile Bengal, including the present country of Bangladesh. Many of these stories also help to understand how identities are constructed across time and space in folklore and in written literature.

This is a story that evolves into a narration that finds true identity amid the hurdles of bureaucracy and life, especially of a woman’s

In India, festivals have an interesting blend of representation through dolls, especially during the agricultural season of autumn, writes Dr. Lopamudra Maitra Bajpai for South Asia Monitor