banshkali: faces

last weekend i went with a small group of teachers and students to a village called banshkali, just outside of chittagong. in addition to the gregorian calendar, bengalis also have their own calendar, and last weekend was the start of the bengali new year. 

banshkali is a hindu village, and every new year they perform a hindu festival known as charak puja. we took a group of students who are in the AUW photography club to photograph the festival. the villagers were extremely welcoming, and fascinated by us. clearly they do not get a lot of foreign visitors, and they were proud that we had come to witness and photograph their festival. 

i was told that this is on the only village where this particular festival is celebrated. i will post some pictures of festival itself, which was quite fascinating. but first i am posting some photos of the beautiful people of banshkali. these pictures are of men and boys. while i was able to talk with women and to photograph them, it was slightly awkward, so mostly i spent time with the men and boys, while the women students and teachers spent time with the women and girls.