It stretches along a narrow lane, lined with richly decorated brick buildings, built during the late Mughal or Colonial period.

Their traditional occupation is the preparation of bangles and rings made from slices of shankha or conch shell, using specialized tools.

[2] In 1971 a massacre carried out by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh War of Liberation greatly reduced the population of Shankharis in Dhaka, and the main centre of the industry is now Kolkata.

[3] According to James Hornell F.L.S., Superintendent of the Pearl and Chank Fisheries to the Government of Madras at the beginning of the 20th century, "The workers belong exclusively to the Sankhari sub-caste of Vaishyas: they appear to be very conservative and have the reputation of being exceedingly clannish.

As one of the most densely populated areas in the world Shankhari Bazaar also has the largest concentration of the Hindus in Dhaka.

The name Pannitola basically came from the first settling area of the Panniwala, people who used to make the foil of tin.