The largest traditional sailing wooden boat of Bengal: Malar

In the 21st century, would you believe that a boat designed 3,000 years ago is still sailing in the confluence of the Padma and Brahmaputra river

Yes, this is happening and only for two people - Runa Khan, a preservationist, and Yves Marre, a French thrill-seeker. 

In 1994 when Yves came to Bangladesh and met Runa, they became enamored with old-world technology and decided that Bangladesh's boat heritage needs to be preserved for future generations. 

When these beautiful ancient boats were disappearing and old-world carpentry skills were dying in front of their eyes, they built a cultural preservation sector under the Friendship NGO in 2002. 

This sector strives to preserve Bangladesh's irreplaceable boat-building heritage before it is lost forever and helps to create a sustainable livelihood for boat-builders. 

In 1997, Yves and Runa turned their dreams into reality by building one of the largest wooden hulls of the country into an international standard cruising boat, which was built according to the thousand year-old techniques of the Brahmaputra carpenters.

The B613 (Malar) under the Contic cruises is traditionally a Malar boat, measuring 93 feet long and 23 feet wide. 

She is equipped with six double cabins, four bathrooms, two showers and a large well-equipped kitchen. The original rigging has been rebuilt with a 20m high mast and two magnificent hand woven red-ochre trapezoidal sails that measure a total of 250 square meters, making the B613 (Malar) the largest sailing boat of Bengal and it is still sailing in the confluence of the Padma and Brahmaputra river in Bangladesh. 

Photographer Md. Arifuzzaman, inspired by that idea, took up a photography project on this boat. 

We are showcasing some of the photos he took while it was sailing on the Padma river back in 2020.

Photos were captured by Md Arifuzzaman