Fishermen of the Padma River

Fishing is a one of the oldest profession in human history. From time immemorial, a large number of Bengali people have depended for their livelihood on fishing and related occupations. Fishermen in rural Bangladesh usually live a community life in neighborhoods or villages around the water bodies. They cooperate closely with one another not only in fishing, but also in economic activities, such as marketing and purchasing, and in social life and family affairs. They have lived communally for many generations, creating in the process their own history, distinct traditions, and patterns of daily life.

Padma is one of the biggest river of Bangladesh. Many fishing villages are growing around Padma. Fishing is their main profession. They do it from generation by generations. But nowadays the community has changed gradually. Due to the decrease in fishing grounds and fishery resources, members of the fishing communities have tended to leave their traditional occupation in search of other jobs. I worked on two fishing village name Bagra and Vaggokul at Mounsigong, mostly the villagers are Hindu religious. Once the villages are big but for the river collision it’s going smaller.For the last five years i try to document these communities daily lifestyle, believe and cultural activities which is lost day by day.