Nabobarsho, Bengali New Year is celebrated on Pahela Baishakh (April 14) and is a national holiday. The celebrations on the first day of the Bengali calendar connects all irrespective of religions. Under the Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a purely lunar calendar, it did [...]
Baitul Mukarram Mosque is the National Mosque of Bangladesh. In the late 1950s Dhaka grew very rapidly. Abdul Latif Ibrahim Bawani first came up with the idea of building a grand mosque that can accommodate a large number of people of the fast growing city. The ‘Baitul Mukarram Mosque Society’ was formed in 1959 to [...]
Sadarghat, a large quay on the river Buriganga, is the gateway to the capital city from the southern districts of the country. A landing place of launches and boats, Sadarghat, was once the promenade of the city’s elite. The place, being the central point of Buckland Bund – embankment on the northern bank of the [...]
Bangladesh entered the ‘supermarket era’ on August 24, 2001 with Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd. launching Agora, a retail chain superstore in Bangladesh, introducing a new way to shop. The company has already opened four outlets – Rifles Square, Gulshan Avenue, Maghbazar and Mirpur Zoo Road in Dhaka – and many more are in progress in Chittagong [...]
Cox’s Bazar, located 150 km south of Chittagong , has captured the imagination of the people of Bangladesh specially after the campaign to keep the beach city among the top ten in New7Wonders of Nature. As on November 26, was third on its list. It was talk of the year. Newspapers first broke the story [...]
Photo by Young Explorers’ Society
Beloved Backpackers,
If you want to experience heaven on earth, then please get yourself a ticket to Teknaf(bus ticket ofcourse). It will cost you approxmately 550 TK on a non-ac bus to get to Teknaf. I was lucky enough to make the trip on 2006 with my fellow club members of Young Explorers’ Society. Read more »
Photograph by Limana Solaiman
The Lawachara National Park is located in Srimongol, Sylhet of Bangladesh. It is one of the natural forest left in Bangladesh. Whenever we think of taking a vacation we usually go to the seaside or mountain side, but visitng a forest area can be a new and refreshing experience. Now a days the forest area is under the Nishorgo Programme financed by the USAID and is declared as ‘Protected Area’, they provide tour of the forest. Read more »
Commonly known as the home of the grand beast “Royal Bengal Tiger”, it is one of the largest Mangroove Forest in the world, situated in the south western part of Bangladesh, in the constituency of greater Khulna.
If you are an adventurer and a travel enthusiast, then this will be the ultimate travel experience for you.
Major attractions in Sundarban region:
Sundarban offers you abundant resources for activities such as Nature and Wild Life photography, research, boating in the thousands of meandering creeks, rivers and estuaries. You can also record wild calls, observe animal behavior and many more. Read more »
In this week’s travel guide I would like to suggest our fellow backpackers to visit Birishiri, Shushong Durgapur. It is a beautiful landscape with the flow of the Shomeshwari River (but the last time I went there I crossed the river by a rickshaw, but I guess you guys will find a fine flow now since it has been raining for quite some time now), the ceramic mountains, the Christian missionary, the small hills near the India Bangladesh borders etc. Read more »
Hello backpackers!!! On this weeks travel guide I would like to suggest for you all to take a swing at Bandarban, a picturesque hill-track on the Chittagong region of Bangladesh.Among many of its natural wonder, Bandarban is the proud owner of the highest peak in Bangladesh known as Keokradong, although, a debate exist that Tanjindong is higher than Keokradong.
Where to stay?
A cottage at the Milon-Chori Resort
According to my experience the best place to stay in Bandarban is Milonchori, the Guide Tour’s resort, situated on a small mountain. This settlement is unique as it offers a wide range of accommodation for travelers, starting from 200tk (a bed at the dormitory) to approximately 3000tk for a luxury cottage.
The cottages are designed like the housing of the indigenous people of the hill-tracks, like the Baum is a unique house that can hold 4 people. It is a replica of a Baum tribe’s housing. Along with that, there are cottages of Marma, and some named after birds of Bangladesh such as the Munia, Moina etc.Staying at the Milonchori resort will give you a feeling that you are in the hill-track locality.
Contact: 01199275691. Read more »
Fellow Backpackers,
On this week’s travel guide I am going to tell you about a place situated near Narayanganj called Roopganj. Roopganj is still undergoing urbanization. You can get into a bus from about anywhere and get dropped off at a place called Bholta bus stand, in front of Gousia Market. Once in front of the market you can hire a rickshaw on hourly basis that will cost you approximately 40 taka per hour. Ask anyone about the Jamdani Tati settlement and they will show you the direction.
After you have watched the legendary Jamdani makers at work you can take a rickshaw ride to Russel park. It is a beautiful natural site with a manmade pond where you can go boating, a small zoo inside and monuments of different animals, along with swings and see-saw for children to enjoy. The environment is very calm as it is far away from the city crowd. Read more »
নাফাখুমের ব্যাপারে প্রথম পড়ি টিঙ্কু ভাইয়ের “দেশের পথে”র ফেসবুক পাতায়, তারপর ইউটিউবে দেশের পথে’র ভিডিও দেখি। অনেকেই একে বাংলাদেশের নায়াগ্রা বলছিলেন। আগ্রহ তাই ক্রমশ আকাঙ্খার চূড়ায় উঠে যাচ্ছিলো দিন দিন। তাই এবারের ঈদের পর বেশ লম্বা ছুটির সুযোগ নিয়ে কয়েক বন্ধু মিলে বেরিয়ে পরলাম।
ঈদ পরবর্তী সময়ে টিকিটের অপ্রতুলতার জন্যে ঢাকা – বান্দরবান কোন টিকিট পাইনি আমরা। আট জনের দলের জন্যে ঢাকা – চট্টগ্রাম এবং তারপর চট্টগ্রাম – বান্দরবান বাস ধরতে হলো আমাদের। দিনটি ছিল ৩ সেপ্টেম্বর’ ২০১১। পরের দিন অর্থাৎ ৪ তারিখ দুপুর ১২টায় বান্দরবান পৌঁছে দুপুর আড়াইটায় থানচির টিকিট কাটলাম। এর আগের ভ্রমণগুলোতে থানচি রুটে আমাদের দলের কেউই যাইনি। তাই নীলগিরি পাশ কাটানোর সাথে সাথে পাহাড়সাড়ির সৌন্দর্য্যের প্রতি বিস্ময়বোধ আমাদের গ্রাস করলো! নীলগিরির চূড়া থেকে দক্ষিণের অতিদূরবর্তী যে দীর্ঘ পাহাড়সাড়ি দেখা যায়, সেটা পেড়িয়ে গিয়ে থানচি উপজেলার শুরু। পথে একস্থানে পাহাড় ধ্বসের জন্যে বাস বদল করতে হলো; এরপর আরো প্রায় ঘন্টা দেড়েক চলার পর থানচি। মোট সময় লাগে ৫ ঘন্টা।
বাস থেকে নেমে সিমেন্ট বাধাই করা সিড়ি বেয়ে ধূসর থানচির পাড়। জনপ্রতি নৌকা পাড়াপাড় ৫ টাকা। নৌকা থেকে নামার সাথে সাথে স্থানীয় এক ছেলে জুটে গেল; নিজেকে সানন্দে আমাদের গাইড হবার জন্যে উপস্থাপন করলো। সে রেমাক্রি, নাফাখুম, আন্ধারমানিক বা এমন এলাকাগুলোতে ঘুরাতে নিয়ে যাবার জন্যে নানান কথা বলছিলো বিরতিহীন। তবে আমরা তার কথায় পুরোপুরি মেতে না গিয়ে থানচি বাজার বিজিবি ক্যাম্পে গেলাম; নাফাখুম যাবার জন্যে বা প্রথম রাতটি থানচি বাজারে কাটাবার জন্যে করণীয় পরামর্শের জন্যে।
এক্ষেত্রে প্রথমত আপনাকে আপনার গন্তব্যের সময় এবং দুরত্বের কথা উল্লেখ করে গাইড এবং প্রয়োজনে মাঝি/বোট ঠিক করতে হবে এবং গাইড ও মাঝির নাম সমেত আপনার পুরো দলের প্রত্যেক সদস্যের নাম, ঠিকানা এবং মোবাইল নম্বর দুটি কাগজে নথি করে যথাক্রমে বিজিবি ক্যাম্পে এবং থানচি থানায় জমা দিতে হবে। বিজিবি ক্যাম্পের অনুমতি সাপেক্ষে আপনি পরবর্তী পদক্ষেপ নিতে পারবেন। তবে বিশেষ কোন অঘটন ছাড়া সব সময়ই ভ্রমণের অনুমতি পাওয়া যায়। বোট এবং গাইড ঠিক করার সময় সতর্ক থাকতে হবে কারণ এরা এদের ইচ্ছে মতোন ভাড়া হেঁকে বসে! রুমা বাজারে গাইড ভাড়া স্থানীয় আর্মি ক্যাম্প দ্বারা নির্ধারীত করা থাকলেও এখানে এখনো তা হয়নি। ১১/০৯/২০১১ তারিখে স্থানীয় গাইডদের দল, বিজিবি, পুলিশ এবং স্থানীয় ইউনিয়ন কর্তৃপক্ষের একটি সভার মাধ্যমে এ ব্যাপারে সিদ্ধান্তে আসবার কথা। Read more »
Nabobarsho, Bengali New Year is celebrated on Pahela Baishakh (April 14) and is a national holiday. The celebrations on the first day of the Bengali calendar connects all irrespective of religions.
Under the Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a purely lunar calendar, it did not coincide with the harvest. As a result, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. In order to streamline tax collection, Mughal Emperor Akbar ordered a reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi, a renowned scholar and astronomer, formulated the Bengali year on the basis of the Hijri lunar and Hindu solar calendars. The new ‘Fasli San’ (agricultural year) was introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from Akbar’s ascension to the throne in 1556. The new year subsequently became known as Bangabdo or Bengali year.
Celebrations of Pahela Boishakh started from Akbar’s reign. It was customary to clear up all dues on the last day of Chaitra. On the next day, or the first day of the new year, landlords would entertain their tenants withsweets. On this occasion there used to be fairs and other festivities. In due course the occasion became part of domestic and social life, and turned into a day of merriment. Read more »
Baitul Mukarram Mosque is the National Mosque of Bangladesh. In the late 1950s Dhaka grew very rapidly. Abdul Latif Ibrahim Bawani first came up with the idea of building a grand mosque that can accommodate a large number of people of the fast growing city. The ‘Baitul Mukarram Mosque Society’ was formed in 1959 to facilitate the project. Land was allocated for the mosque complex at the meeting point of ‘old’ and ‘new’ Dhaka. The site was also in close proximity to Motijheel, the central business district of the city. Architect T Abdul Hussain Thariani was commissioned to design the mosque
complex. The plan included offices, libraries, shops and parking areas within the complex. Construction of Baitul Mukarram began on January 27, 1960. It was declared the National Mosque after the War of Liberation.
The design of the mosque reflects the architecture of the period as can be seen from the use of a white and almost cube-form for the main building. A mosque without a dome over the roof of its main prayer hall must have been a unique experiment at that time. The main building is eight storied and 99 feet high from the ground level. According to the original plan, the main entrance of the mosque was to be on the eastern side. The ‘shahan’ on the east is 29,000 square feet with ablution space on its south and north sides. Read more »
Sadarghat, a large quay on the river Buriganga, is the gateway to the capital city from the southern districts of the country. A landing place of launches and boats, Sadarghat, was once the promenade of the city’s elite. The place, being the central point of Buckland Bund – embankment on the northern bank of the river Buriganga constructed in 1864 under a scheme undertaken by the City Commissioner C T Buckland to protect Dhaka mainly from flooding and river erosion – was left green and later turned into a miniature park with a raised dais where visiting dignitaries could be received on landing from steamers. A local regimental band played daily in the afternoon for the entertainment of the people.
The strand became an attraction to the city and a boon and was used as a promenade overlooking the river with its busy traffic, where people could stroll in the afternoon and enjoy the cool breeze from the river. Read more »
bdnews24.com | English Version
September 24th, 2011 
admin 