A narrow lane in the Hindu quarter of Old Dhaka where craftspeople have made conch-shell bangles and jewellery for centuries. The street is about 150 metres long and barely wide enough for two people to pass — the workshops on either side open directly onto the lane, and the sound of grinding shell and the smell of burning wax are constant. The Hindu community that has lived here since the Mughal period survived partition in 1947 and the 1971 war, though the neighbourhood has shrunk considerably from its former extent.
Walk the lane slowly, look into the workshops, and notice the architecture of the buildings: some are three and four storeys of overhanging timber-framed construction that predate everything else visible in modern Dhaka. The area around Shankhari Bazaar — Tanti Bazaar, Patuatuli — is the densest concentration of old city atmosphere in Bangladesh.