A normal weekend here is Friday and Saturday, as Friday is the Muslim day of prayer all government agencies are closed although road side market stalls, cafe and restaurants and some of the larger electronics shops are all operating. Diplob our driver took Garth and I out to explore the surrounding countryside, two hours and 40kms later we arrived in Dhamrai a predominantly Hindu town where there are a few artisan metal workers still using the traditional ‘lost wax’ method of bronze sculpture.

Sukanta Banik and his family are fifth generation metal workers , their beautiful old two-storied home dates from the early British colonial era in the 1900’s and was inherited from his forebears.

They are one of only a handful of original home owners still living in Dhamrai many in this town fled when East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was partitioned from India. Sukanta and his delightful Mother greeted us with typical Bangladesh hospitality with a cup of lemon tea, followed by a tour of the gardens and metal studios.

The technique of ‘lost wax’ metal craft has been used for generations and it was great to see this family business keeping this dying art alive. Their studio is full of intricate sculptures each sculpture hand made and unique. The method is incredibly labour intensive involving the carver first making the sculpture out of beeswax and paraffin which is then coated with several coats of clay which are heated in a coal-fired kiln, the wax vaporizes and the molten metal is poured into the mold after which the mold is chipped of and the filing down begins.

This stunning elephant and horse merry go round spins.

This Chariot temple adorned with painted images of Hindu mythology sits in the middle of town and is paraded down the road during the Hindu festival of Rath Jatra in July,  an important date for all Hindu.