'Granary full of paddy, ponds full of fishes and the shades full of cattle' were once the proud identity of the well-off family of rural Bangladesh. But, due to evolution of ages, this identity of the rural families is slowly fading away. At the same time, the earthen granaries which proved the identities, strength and power of the family, are being obliterated nowadays.
These large earthen granaries were once the only means to preserve paddy round the year in rural villages. These granaries made of earth were very useful to preserve paddy. Paddy was dried up after harvesting and those were kept in granaries. The preserved paddy was taken out of the granary during the time of necessity and was husked to rice.
Every house of the Barind region was once holding earthen granaries. But, those are now rarely visible. Except for a few households, paddy is not preserved by the small and marginal farmers at their houses or granaries nowadays.
Jahangir Alam of Kharikulla village under Badhair union of Tanore upazila informed, once upon a time, rural people even did not settle any marriage of their sons or daughters in those houses where there were no granary full of paddy. But, the days are now gone and not a single earthen granary can be found in the entire village.
It is learnt, after preserving paddy inside the earthen granary, the door or the entrance of the granary was closed with earth. Whenever, the house owner needs money, he would reopen the closed earthen entrance by breaking and would let out paddy from inside and sell that to the market or to the wholesale paddy trader.
Even most of the household owners also preserved their gold ornaments and money inside the paddy of the granary so that the thieves and the dacoits failed to find those out. These earthen granaries were also known as Gola or Dole by the local people. These earthen granaries were comparatively durable and used for a long time. Due to the making of houses with tins and bricks in rural areas nowadays, the demand for these earthen granaries has decreased. Moreover, the paddy preserved in earthen granaries is damaged and eaten by rats that is why the farmers are now reluctant to preserve paddy in the earthen granaries.
Cultural activist Ayub Ali in this connection informed, those earthen granaries of rural Bangladesh are now nearly extinct.