Marcus Wiechmann

Dalit Colony

The Miron-Jolla-Colony hosts regularly cultural, religious or other festivals. In this competition the residents dance in different classes to Indian music and a jury selects the winners. The winners will later receive prizes from the "mayor" of the colony, which were donated by the residents.

Dalit Colony

2017

During the Durga Puja celebrations in 2017 I met some people from the Miron-Jolla-Colony preparing a Durga goddess statue and started following them as they celebrated the most important religious festival for Hindus in Bangladesh. When I came into their neighborhood I wasn´t aware of their social background yet. After I spent some time with them I got an idea of their microcosm and later realized the background of Dalit people in Bangladesh by the research I did.

About 5.5 million Dalit, a word applied to all „untouchables“ in the caste system, live in Bangladesh. A community of 5.000 families lives in the Miron-Jolla-Colony in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which is like an enclave and was built like that to separate the “unpure” people from the rest of the society.

Their ancestors were brought by the British empire from other parts of India to work as street and sewer cleaners in Dhaka. For many years the marginalised group was forced to work in their naturally given jobs. But for nowadays generation the situation changed as they are more accepted and also younger people get into other jobs and some even enter into higher education.

But still they live as a closed community in their colony where they have preserved the Indian culture of their ancestors. They still speak Telugu instead of Bengali and keep their Indian culture alive.

There are several religious sites within the Miron-Jolla-Colony that are dedicated to specific Hindu gods. In these sites the community meets almost every day to perform prayers.

The colony is like a labyrinth due to the narrow paths that run through the densely constructed neighborhood. That´s why there is no car traffic and even Rickshaws can´t get into the colony.

The approximately 5,000 families of the Dalit colony usually live together with three or even four generations in small one to two room apartments.

Portrait of residents from the Miron-Jolla-Colony. The brown dot on the forehead of the child is called Tilaka and gets applied to protect children from evil spirits.

There are several religious sites within the Miron-Jolla-Colony that are dedicated to specific Hindu gods.

Portrait of a resident from the Miron-Jolla-Colony who holds religious processions within the colony.

Religious celebrations or other festivals are held regularly in the neighborhood, with larger celebrations taking place on the streets with processions.

Within the colony most families built their one or two story homes by themselves. As a result a quarter emerged over time that is different from the rest of Dhaka's cityscape.

During the Durga Puja celebrations the inhabitants carried a Durga goddess statue from their colony to the Buriganga river. There they went out on the river by a boat to sacrifice the statue.

Every evening the residents hold processions in their homes in honor of their gods.

In some places within the colony people meet at evening to smoke Marihuana which is a way for them to honor their gods.

In every household the inhabitants built and decorated shrines for their gods. These shrines range from small shelves on the wall to large installations.

Portrait of residents living in the Miron-Jolla-Colony. Each family prays to their chosen gods and built shrines for them in their home.

After a cockfight the owner holds up his animal which just won the tournament. The winner will later receive a prize from the "mayor" of the colony, which was donated by the residents.

Portrait of a resident from the Miron-Jolla-Colony.

View of an apartment block that surrounds the colony.