With a long legacy of residing in cottages made of bamboos, leaves and clay the zamindars were the only social class privileged since 1857 to import German and Belgian corrugated iron roofs for two-storeyed houses.

Until World War I, iron roofs were rare, if not absent in Bengal and only after 1930 iron roofs were imported to the country from Japan, bringing with it Japanese designs, patterns and structures into Bangladeshi houses.

Single units, as well as two- and three-storeyed buildings styled after houses in Assam also came into vogue during the early 20th century, during a time when 72 feet long bamboo poles cost only around Tk 7 to 9.

Corrugated iron roofs sprouted countrywide in the post World War II era, especially in Bikrampur where nearly every house had a tin roof. Massive imports of timber, like teak and mahogany were shipped from Burma and Assam costing as low as 6 'ana' per cubic metre.

Local designs and patterns started to blossom from the 1940s since mushrooming tin-shade houses in Bikrampur and surrounding areas demanded greater innovation than houses that were made of clay or mud.

Engraved patterns on wooden doors and windowpanes, and on the rails enclosing the balcony widened the opportunity to develop artistic skills during that time.

Most of the artists and carpenters who worked on the designs and patterns engraved on the woodwork were Hindus who passed the secrets of their skills from generation to generation.

After partition of the subcontinent in 1947, houses in Bikrampur designed by the Hindu artists were sold off and as a result, the designs and patterns devised by the Bikrampur artists were reproduced by many in all districts.

According to the current trend, one and half-storeyed houses are 12 feet tall and constructed according to Japanese designs. Some expatriate Bikrampur residents living in Japan are implementing new Japanese designs and patterns in their village.

A retired government official, Ashraf Uddin Miah, explains that houses that cost around Tk 5 to 7 lakh today, would have cost Tk 200 to 300 for a single-storey house or Tk 400 to 500 for a two-storeyed house in the 1940s.

:: Added 26102005 @ 1915 GMT