Not much has changed at 332, Bakshirhat

Pitambar Shah, a Chattogram based herbal medicine and spice shop, has survived with its old business model, despite the huge changes in technology and pharmaceutical industry in the last 180 years.

The store still keeps its accounts throughout the year in the traditional way and celebrates Bangla new year's Halkhata festival from the start of their business.

Pitambar Shah's successors have been conducting business for four generations, and the store is renowned across the country and abroad for its unique collection of herbs and spices since 1842. There are myths that this store has everything you need from birth till death.

So what's available there?

Their elaborate list contains herbal medicinal ingredients and rare spices among other products including religious items.

The store sells common medicinal herbs and tree cortex like Arjuna bark, Ashoka plant, trifola, zinc, hazrat stone, coral oil, neem seeds, neem oil, sandalwood seeds, sea foam, nageshwar flower, olive oil, copper coin, bakulgota as well as ayurvedic and Unani treatment products that one can hardly name.

Besides, Iran's Meshak's Grain, Assam's red sandalwood powder, Kashmir's saffron, Tripura's kumkum, Odisha's bhurjapatra Himalayan birch, mugani, and kasturi make their list richer.

Herbal remedy was the main treatment in Chattogram region before the 19th century. The hill tracts was a source of herbal medicine, and many famous institutions were established in the port city around that time, namely Sadhana Aushadhalaya, Kundeswari Aushadhalaya and Mojaher Aushadhalaya, which collected their materials from Pitambar Shah store.

According to the Pitambar's descendants, the ancestral root of their family lies in India. They settled in Chattogram and Dhaka in 1840-42 and opened the shop with his [Pitambar's] two brothers Kunjalal Shah and Mukunda Shah.

As Kunjalal and Mukunda Shah had no children, Pitambar Shah's son, Bindu Madhab Shah took over the helm of the business. After Bindu, his son Biswanath Banik looked after the business, who then passed it on to the current generation -- Bhaskar Madhab Banik and Ambar Madhab Banik, his sons.

Bhaskar Madhab told The Daily Star, "This shop is our only business… I don't know if the next generation will continue it. So far, we're committed to preserving the tradition and reputation of our predecessors," Almost 20-22 workers are working at the shop, who have been with us since their youth, he added.

This correspondent came across Kabiraj Hakim Ali (70) of Hatiya upazila in the shop. He said, "Kabiraji (herbal medicine practitice is our ancestral profession. Both my grandfather and father were in this profession. And we always come here for various herbal ingredients."