Reading Bengal beyond religious boundaries

Bengal’s history of Islam and religious coexistence stems from its unique indigenous deltaic civilisation and syncretic culture.
23 June 2026, 08:46 AM

Graphic modernity: Bengali artists and the politics of book design

Bengali artists transformed the Franklin Book Program’s translations into powerful symbols of postcolonial visual modernity and identity.
22 June 2026, 08:30 AM

Echoes of Karbala: A personal journey through Muharram in Old Dhaka

Muharram in Old Dhaka remains a profound, centuries-old cultural legacy intertwining personal heritage and the Karbala tragedy.
21 June 2026, 08:38 AM

How the Mughal legacy continues to shape South Asia

In the realm of everyday culture, Mughal influence permeated cuisine (techniques, dishes, and courtly food culture), dress, etiquette (adab), and aesthetic sensibilities, creating a shared repertoire that cuts across religious and regional boundaries.
16 June 2026, 00:01 AM

The lost world of Dhaka's courtesans and baijis

Today, the memory of the baijis survives only in the recollections of a handful of elderly witnesses, and in a few rare photographs, within whose fading frames lingers a poignant history of neglect and oblivion.
15 June 2026, 15:18 PM

Ghosts, gods, and swadeshi pride

Regardless of the visual's artistic quality, the novelty of the concept remains undeniable.
14 June 2026, 17:09 PM

Jerseys, rivalries and World Cups: A football memory

A personal journey through football memories, World Cup emotions, and Bangladesh’s enduring love for the beautiful game.
12 June 2026, 08:30 AM

Love, faith and family: Inside World Cup players’ tattoos

Beyond goals and trophies, World Cup players' tattoos reveal stories of faith, family, identity, ambition and love.
11 June 2026, 16:05 PM

Can migration help win a World Cup?

Migration has been part of the World Cup story since its inception.
11 June 2026, 15:19 PM

A crime history of Bengal: When rivers became a haven for dacoits

This essay examines how colonial exploitation and Bengal's riverine ecology fuelled the rise of nineteenth-century river dacoits.
9 June 2026, 09:00 AM

Mohajir manuscripts: Field notes from Dhaka Aliya Madrasa

On 20 August 1947, the Director of Public Instruction for the Education Directorate of the newly created state of West Bengal, S. Dutta, issued an order—“in view of the decision of the Separation Office”—to the principal and teachers of the Kolkata Aliya Madrasa at Wellesley Square.
8 June 2026, 00:00 AM

What has changed since the USA ’94 World Cup? Almost everything

Thirty-two years after USA ’94, the World Cup returns transformed by expansion, technology, and unprecedented commercial power.
7 June 2026, 19:27 PM

Historic Six-Point Movement: The photographs they suppressed

Photojournalists risked their lives on June 7, 1966, documenting the movement, yet government censorship prevented their photographs from being published.
7 June 2026, 08:30 AM

The Tofail Bhai I knew

Mujahidul Islam Selim reflects on Tofail Ahmed, balancing their shared struggles with fundamental ideological and political differences.
6 June 2026, 14:51 PM

Mustafa Zaman Abbasi: The man who heard music in the wind

At a time when modern songs and genres were pushing folk music to the margins, Abbasi spent two decades conducting a programme dedicated to folk songs.
5 June 2026, 08:30 AM

K.A.M. Saaduddin: Architect and activist of anti-imperialist sociology and social movements in Bangladesh

His theoretical orientation was critical, challenging the well-established traditional and modernist views of development.
4 June 2026, 09:00 AM

Abdul Quadir and the lost art of editing

On Abdul Quadir's 120th birth anniversary, revisiting the editor, critic, and cultural guardian modern Bengali literature needs.
2 June 2026, 09:30 AM

Rakhal Das Banerji: The Bengali explorer who changed history

Rakhal Das conducted the first extensive excavation at Mohenjo-Daro from December 1922 to March 1923, uncovering three sites.
2 June 2026, 09:00 AM

Why Roid stays with you long after the film ends

Roid becomes far richer when its symbols are allowed to remain unstable.
1 June 2026, 14:27 PM

How earthquakes, disease and war shaped Bengal’s slave trade

Medieval Bengal was known for riverine shifts. That deadly earthquakes played a part in this morphological instability is not so well known.
1 June 2026, 00:00 AM