Classroom lesson 路 Painted rickshaws馃嚙馃嚛 Bangladesh

Painted rickshaws

Moving works of art on three wheels

A brightly painted cycle rickshaw with peacock and floral artwork on its back panel

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

A rickshaw is a small three-wheeled bicycle taxi. The rider pedals at the front, and passengers sit on a seat behind. Bangladesh has more rickshaws than anywhere on Earth - and they are some of the most beautiful, because every single one is hand-painted by an artist.

Tell me more

The capital city, Dhaka, is sometimes called the 'rickshaw capital of the world'. There are around half a million rickshaws on its streets. They wiggle through traffic, carry children to school, deliver shopping, and look like a moving rainbow.

Each rickshaw is decorated by a painter who works in a tiny workshop. The back panel - the bit you see as a rickshaw goes past - is painted with bright pictures: peacocks, lotus flowers, tigers, mountains, palaces, and sometimes the faces of famous singers and film stars. No two rickshaws look the same.

The paint is meant to make passengers smile. A driver who pulls his rickshaw for many hours wants his vehicle to look like the best one in the street. Some painters became so well known that their style is recognised across the whole country - a bit like a famous illustrator's books.

In 2023, the United Nations added Dhaka's rickshaw painting to a special list of important world traditions, alongside things like Japanese sushi-making and the Italian opera. It is recognised as a true folk art form, kept alive by artists, drivers and passengers together.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a vehicle that someone works in every day be worth decorating?
  2. 02What everyday objects in our lives are painted or decorated? Why do people bother?
  3. 03If you could paint the back of your school bus, what picture would you choose?
Try this

Classroom activity

Give every child the outline of a rickshaw back panel. Each pupil designs their own painted rickshaw - bright colours, one big subject in the middle (flower, animal, sport, place), patterns around the edge. Hang them all up to make a class rickshaw rank.