Gotipua is a traditional dance in Odisha, India. The dance is performed by young boys who dress up as women. The boys start learning the dance at an early age of five or six and they practice and dance until their adolescence and the androgynous look of the boys is fading. In Oriya language "Gotipua "means "single boy". Centuries ago the traditional dances of Orissa were performed in the temples of Lord Jagannath by Mahari dancers. The Maharis were devadasi, female artists who were dedicated to worship and serve a deity or a temple for the rest of their life. After the abolition of the devadasi system in the 16th century the Mahari dance has been discontinued and young boys performing the Gotipua dance carried on the traditional dances in the Jaganath temples.

The Gotipua is a combination of masculine and feminine elements and a combination of grace and strength. The most fascinating part of Gotipua is the section based on acrobatic figures and movements. The modern day Odissi classical dance is strongly influenced by the ancient dance form Gotipua. Many masters of the Odissi dance were Gotipua dancers in their youth.

Kushti is a traditional form of Indian mud wrestling, an ancient culture where wrestlers live and train together and follow strict rules on living a pure life. Drinking, smoking and even sex are off limits.

For more pictures check out the gallery "Kushti in India".

The wrestlers live, practice and sleep together in an akhara (or akhada). In Maharashtra the akharas are called talim. The akhara is a place to practice Kushti with facilities for sleeping, cooking and training. Smaller ahkaras host around 20 or 30 wrestlers, whereas big akharas form a community of up to hundred wrestlers. The age of the mud wrestlers range from seven or eight to mid-twenties. The wrestlers come from across all India. Many of them have been away from their families virtually all their life. They consider the community in the akhara as their family. Many of the boys come from poor families and Kushti is a chance to break out of the cycle of poverty.

Traditional mud wrestlers are referred as pehlwans, the teachers in an akhara are called ustad. The athletes are not required to be vegetarians and they are allowed to eat chicken and eggs. The diet is also heavily based on crushed almonds, milk and ghee, which is referred as "khurak", the holy trinity of the wrestler's diet. In addition to it the pehlwans also eat vegetables, rice, lentils and fruit.

Shipbuilding in Bangladesh has become a major industry in recent years. Bangladesh has over 200 shipbuilding companies, mostly concentrated in Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal and Khulna. The largest and most famous shipyard in Bangladesh is the Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard.

One big shipyard in Dhaka is located on the riverbank of the Buriganga River just opposite of the Sadarghat in Old Dhaka. The best way to reach the dockyard is to cross the Buriganga River at Sadarghat by using one of the numerous small wooden boats for just 5 Taka. The dockyard is open for everyone and it is very easy to roam around. The shipyard provides docks and equipment mostly for repairing and maintaining big vessels. But the workers in the yard also break down old ships as well as build new ships from scratch.

The first thing to notice when entering the yard is that the workers are extremely kind and welcoming. They always have a friendly smile for the visitors, and sometimes the ship-owners or dockyard managers greet the visitors with a handshake. A stroll in the shipyard is always accompanied by the rhythmic and incessant sound of hammering. Countless workers equipped with a hammer get rid of the rust and old paint of the boat hulls. The constant buzz of activity on the yard includes metal cutting, welding and painting. But there are also other facilities like foundries for ship propellers and workplaces to maintain the ship engines. And there are of course the huge cable winches to drag the big vessels out of the Buringanga River on the docks.

To see all pictures take a look at the complete foto gallery "Dockyard Dhaka" in the gallery section. 

Kerala in South India has many popular traditional dance forms like Kathakali, Kutiyattam or Theyyam. Kathakali is an impressive form of classical dance and a wonderful combination of dance, drama, music and religious theme. The presentation is usually based on the Ramayana, the ancient Hindu poem about the divine prince Rama and his wife Sita. Kutiyattam (or Koodiyattam) is a form of Sanskrit theatre and one of India’s oldest living theatrical traditions. It represents a synthesis of Sanskrit classicism and reflects the local traditions of Kerala. Both art forms, Kathakali and Kutiyattam, are performed all over Kerala, but mostly in and around Kochi.

Theyyam on the other hand is only found in the northern part of Kerala. The performers of Theyyam always belong to the lower caste. Like Kathakali and Kutiyattam, Theyyam is also a traditional ritual dance form. However, in Theyyam the dancers and performers not only play the deities, during the performance they lose their physical identity and finally impersonate the god and receive magical power. Therefore the blessing of the devotees is an important part at the end of a Theyyam ceremony.