Tanga (carriage)

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Tanga

A tanga (Hindi: टाँगा, Urdu: ٹانگہ, Bengali: টাঙ্গা) or tonga is a light horse-drawn carriage used for transportation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Tangas are a popular mode of transportation because they are fun to ride in, and are usually cheaper to hire than a taxi or rickshaw. However, in many cities, tangas are not allowed to use highways because of their slow pace. A ride in a tanga can also be troublesome if the road is uneven because its big wooden wheels lack shock absorbers. In Pakistan, tangas are mainly found in the older parts of cities and towns, and are becoming less popular for utilitarian travel and more popular for pleasure. Tangas have become a traditional feature of weddings and other social functions in Pakistan, where they are covered in flowers and ribbons and painted white. They are usually pulled by two horses, though some require only one. Others are designed for farm work. The room under the seats is sometimes used by the coachman (locally called "coach-waan") to keep his horse's food and sometimes to keep luggage, if required.

Tangas are used for economic activity, mainly to carry heavy goods within the city limits.^[1]

Tangas were the most common means of transport in urban India and Pakistan until the early 1980s. Although autorickshaws have overtaken them in popularity, tangas are still common today in many cities and villages.