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.
