Faridpur villagers make hand fans with palm leaves

Workers making hand fans with palm leaves in Faridpur. UNB_11zon

Faridpur, May 5 – In the heart of Faridpur’s Boalmari upazila, where modern jobs remain elusive and the clatter of factories is unknown, time gently drifts with the rustle of palm leaves.

Amid the sun-soaked courtyards of Satair union, an age-old tradition breathes life into generations—fans made lovingly by hand from palm leaves.

As the fierce summer months of Chaitra and Boishakh arrive, nearly 200 homes across three villages awaken to a rhythm untouched by machines.

In these villages, dawn brings the crackle of drying palm leaves under the rising sun, the chatter of artisans at work and the timeless harmony of tradition woven into every fan.

In open yards, children and elders lay out freshly cut palm leaves, letting the sun cure them.

Inside shaded courtyards, women sit cross-legged, their nimble fingers crafting patterns as if by memory alone.

Men shape frames from bamboo and cane, giving the fans their sturdy spines. It is a symphony of craft—whispered through hands, passed down like heirlooms.

“We don’t have land to farm or vehicles to earn a living. This is what our fathers and grandfathers did, and now it feeds us too,” shared Shamir Uddin of Naharchar village.

A craftsman of many seasons, Shamir lives off this humble trade with his wife, having already fulfilled a father’s dream—marrying off his daughter with the earnings from his handiwork.

"I was able to get my daughter married off with the money from this job," he said, his voice tinged with both pride and hardship.

Yet behind each hand-woven fan lies a deeper struggle—access to capital.

The leaves, though freely found in nature, must still be bought, dried, dyed and transformed, all of which cost money.

 “Buying palm leaves requires ready cash. We’re badly off, so we take loans from NGOs at high interest. Then we repay them little by little, week after week, from whatever we can earn,” Shamir explained.

 “If only we had low-interest government loans, it would ease a huge burden," he said. 

Fellow artisan Raju Bishwas noted that a hundred fans fetch between Tk 2,500 and Tk 3,500 wholesale, depending on their design.

But the making of each one demands at least Tk 20 to 25—an amount driven ever higher by the cost of bamboo, cane, thread and leaves.

In a world increasingly cooled by electric fans and air conditioners, the demand for these traditional handheld fans may have waned.

Yet, in these villages, the craft refuses to vanish. Summer months and seasonal fairs still see an embrace of the fans—not just for their function, but for the memories they stir.

Within each home, the air hums with work. One woman paints palm fronds in bold colours; another binds them to bamboo frames. Children, with the curiosity of youth, sit beside their parents—sorting, tying, learning the artistry one knot at a time. No grand lessons are needed. 

The tradition, like the breeze the fans create, flows naturally from one generation to the next.

Satair Union Parishad Chairman Rafiul Alam recognises the cultural heartbeat behind this enduring art. “We’re in talks with the upazila administration to support this industry so it doesn’t disappear. This is more than just income—this is identity,” he said.

Boalmari Upazila Nirbahi Officer Tanvir Hasan Chowdhury offered hope for a brighter future. “We are planning to provide training and low-interest loans through youth development and social welfare departments. We’re also arranging stalls for artisans at upcoming cottage industry fairs,” he said.

In these quiet corners of Faridpur, where tradition weaves its way through poverty and perseverance, each palm leaf fan becomes more than just a tool against heat. It is a quiet act of resistance—a refusal to let heritage fade into memory. - UNB