WORLDS LONGEST NATURAL BEACH

 

Cox's Bazar is a town, a fishing port and district headquarters in Bangladesh. It is known for its wide sandy beach which is the world's longest natural sandy sea beach.It is an unbroken 125 km sandy sea beach with a gentle sloop. It is located 150 km south of Chittagong. Cox’s Bazar is also known by the name "Panowa", the literal translation of which means "yellow flower". Its other old name was "Palongkee". The modern Cox's Bazar derives its name from Captain Cox (died 1799), an officer serving in British India. In the 18th century, an officer of British East India Company, Captain Hiram Cox was appointed as the Superintendent of Palongkee outpost after Warren Hastings became the Governor of Bengal. Captain Cox was specially mobilised to deal with a century long conflict between Arakan refugees and local Rakhains. The Captain was a compassionate soul and the plight of the people touched his heart. He embarked upon the mammoth task of rehabilitating refugees in the area, and made significant progress.

 A premature death took Captain Cox in 1799 before he could finish his work. But the work he had done earned him a place in the hearts of the locals and to commemorate his role in rehabilitation work a market was established and named after him as Cox's Bazaar ("Cox's Market"). Although Cox's Bazar is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Bangladesh, it has yet to become a major international tourist destination, due to lack of publicity.

 Cox’s Bazar, mostly famous for its beautiful sea beach and the sunset, has several other attractions, including:

• Laboni Beach: This is the main beach of Cox's Bazar and is considered the main beach due to the fact that it is closest to the town. Close to the beach, there are hundreds of small shops selling souvenirs and beach accessories to the tourists.
• Himchari: Located about 18 km south of Cox’s Bazar along the sea beach, is a nice place for the picnic and film shooting. This picnic spot is famous for its waterfalls. The road to Himchari runs by the open sea on one side and hills on the other which makes the journey to Himchari very attractive. Its another attraction is the Christmas tree.
• Enani Beach: Located 35 km south of Cox’s Bazar, this white sandy beach is located within Ukhia Thana.This beach is famous for its golden sand and clean shark free water which is ideal for sea bathing. Most tourists prefer to come down here for relaxing because it is free from the crowd of tourists that is usually seen at the Laboni beach.

• Maheshkhali is a small island (268 square kilometres) off the Cox’s Bazar coast. The island offers panoramic scenic beauty and is covered by a range of low hills, about 300 feet (91 m) high, streatches through the center of the island and along its eastern coastline. The coasts of the island on the west and north form a low-lying tract that is fringed by the mangrove forests. Adinath Temple, a temple of Shiva, and a Buddhist pagoda are also located on this island.

• Sonadia Island, a small crescent shaped island of only 9 square kilometres, it is 7-km north-west of Cox's Bazar. The western side of the island is sandy and different kinds of shells are found on the beach. Off the northern part of the island, there are beds of window pane oysters. During winter, fisherman set up temporary camps on the island and dry their catches of sea fish. Sonadia Island supports the last remaining part of mangrove forest in southeast Bangladesh. Sonadia's mangroves are distinct from the well-known sunderbans, due to their development in a coastal lagoon setting rather than in a delta.Another attraction of this island is the sight of game birds migrating here in great numbers during the winter seasons.

• Teknaf, a place situated by the side of Naf river is the southernmost part of mainland Bangladesh. This also marks the end point of Cox's Bazar beach. Tourists usually come here to have a river cruise along beautiful Naf river, which flows between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

KEOKRADONG THE HIGHEST PEAK

The most charming adventure tour in Bangladesh is to explore Keokradang, the highest peak of the country. You start your journey to Ruma ghat (terminal) from Bandarban on a 'Chander Gari,' a jalopy made of an age-old jeep.  The clouds will fly beneath you. It will seem that you are flying over the clouds like a free bird. Sometimes the clouds will so close that you fill that you could reach out and touch them.
Ruma Ghat is only 54km from the town, but the journey took about three and a half hours. Here you have to cross the Shankha river on a one and a half hours' trip to Ruma Bazaar.You will find three or four rest houses at Ruma Bazaar 
The feeling at Ruma Bazaar is that you are being enclosed by four walls on all sides the walls are hills as we were at the bosom of a valley.  The silence of the place and the hills around you might have induced the lonely feeling.
  you start your journey  for Boga Lake. The way to Baga Lake is no pleasure trip, for a normal tourist, it might be even impossible to walk for five hours without rest. You have to walk along the hilly river Rumanaksang and cross it several times.
Just after Ruma Bazaar and before Boga Lake, there are two steep hills and path strewn with stones.you have to cross the shallow river 52 times more. You have to cross a stream to go up a small hill, the stony way of the stream is too narrow to walk side by side. On the way, you will  met many indigenous people who walked along the way without any ease. At last, you will reach to Boga Lake. You will find two rest houses and an army camp. The villagers of Boga Lake cordially accep tourists and entertain them in exchange for a little money. The people here are mainly Marma, Murang and Bome. They are very friendly with the Bangalis. These areas are deprived of many facilities, from Ruma Bazaar to Boga Lake, we found only one primary school established with the help of some tourists.
You can set out for Darjiling Para. It is a two-hour walk from Boga Lake. The path is better than the one you covered the previous day. Darjiling Para is the second most elevated habitation of Bangladesh; Shaikat Para is the first. There are few small shops at Darjiling Para.Now you are close to Keokradang. After that, only half an hour's walk take you to the peak.
Howdo you feel? It is impossible to describe the ecstasy of watching the beauty around you.

ANIMAL WORLD

Animals are creatures of habit and have distinct daily and seasonal patterns of activities. An understanding of these patterns increases our chance of seeing them.
Globally, nature oriented television channels like Discovery, Animal Planet, National Geographic and many more sometimes mislead the viewers by showing a large assembly of animals and birds in the wild. In reality, large assemblies of wildlife are found only in African plains and in Arctic regions. In most of the cases, the aggressive animals are shot in small reserves, private ranches or by baiting. The forests of southeast Asia are dense with poor visibility. On the other hand, other than deer and monkeys, most of the mammals are shy and active at night. That is why so many people have visited the Sundarbans but hardly any of them came across any wildlife.
For saving time and money of the tourists, the forest department has developed a centre at Karamjal forest outpost, a former animal breeding centre five kilometres off the Mongla Port, for a close look at the fauna and flora of the Sundarbans,.
  There are some caged animals like deer, monkeys, crocodiles, pythons and ridley turtle on display, but they are continuously disturbed by the visitors. But it is a good place to watch different mammals in the wild too.
On weekdays, the number of visitors is less and then you can see deer roaming around, even tigers can also be seen walking on the boundary walls.
Why did deer choose such a populous area? These deer are the overpopulated members of the breeding centre, which were freed in the wilderness. The deer got accustomed with the people and tigers followed them. Sometimes the foresters have to fire blank shots to scare away adventurous tigers at night.
  Tall trees -- Sundari, Kankra, Bain, Ora, Kawra, Passur and Dhundul -- had extended a canopy over the walkway. On the higher canopies you will find some passerine birds, busy practicing their sweet notes.

DULHAZARA SAFARI PARK

 

Every forest has its own story to tell. Whether it is inside dense forest or on the edge of the woodland, one must feel the isolation while sitting in the rest house in the evening.

As the sun went down, birds of different colours, sizes and shapes passed over us, heading for their roosting places. Scores of warblers were settling in the vegetation around us and a big geko lizard known as Mertin's Tokey, began its evening incantation -- a quiet chuckling followed by a loud Gec-ko … Gec-ko ... gek-ko. A fruit bat flew past us and a barred owlet called. Crickets and cicadas joined them with their high-pitched orchestral chorus. But still I was missing some thing, the howling of the foxes and calling of the nightzars.

Scientists named gayal as bos frontalis, whcih can weigh over 500-kg.

never had the experience of encountering these animals and so did not know about their tolerance to human beings. But the ranger informed me that the park animals are bred in the park and are not temperamental.

The forest road led us to a beautiful lake surrounded by tall rainforest trees which reflected green in water. By aligning my pair of binoculars I spotted a stork billed kingfisher, the largest of their kind in Bangladesh. While Saon devoted his time to photographing flowers and butterflies, I suddenly heard a whistling sound above me and craned my neck to locate the source of the sound and was amazed to find a pair of tree-living cotton teal, the smallest ducks of our country popularly known as pigmy goose.

After a while we again boarded the vehicle and were brought to a 20 feet high wooden walkway that leads to 300 metres, providing a fantastic opportunity of watching the forest and its animals and birds. We walked down all the way and found some interesting birds such as racket-tailed drongo, strikingly coloured minivets and some rhesus monkeys. On the other end of the walkway, we discovered some samber deer resting by the forest edge. Samber, our biggest member of the deer family, are the most vulnerable of animals facing serious threat of extinction. The park animals are now thriving well in an optimistic amount.

The cloud again threatened us and we backtracked along the walkway and found a beautiful small animal on the forest floor -- a barking deer curiously looking at us. Big drops of rain started to splatter and forced us to retreat to the safety of the rest house.

NIJHUM ISLAND

The name 'Nijhum Dip' itself contains a romantic connotation about the place; it gives one a sense of silence and natural splendor unsullied by human exploration.The island is situated  under Hatiya upazila in Noakhali District. It covers a total area of 16,352 hectares. With proper facilities this Island could be prime tourist spot after St. Martins Island.A surreal vision grows on traveler eyes when they enjoy sprinkling moment with uncovered nature. It’s really rural reflection of Bangladesh but Natural refreshment. No standard   restaurants, road even electricity there. The population in Nijhum Dwip in 2001 was 10,670. At high tide a significant potion of the island becomes covered in water, apart from the cultivated, inhabited areas.

 

There are different types of animal surround of you. Spotted deer, Migratory birds, Monkeys, Estuary reported to harbor the Ganges River Dolphin include Clawless Otter, Fishing Cat, Snakes, Tortoises and Turtles. During winter, thousands of migratory birds visit the islands and around a dozen of which are considered to be globally critically endangered, enhancing its splendour even further.

You can go to Nijhum island , from Dhaka take a launch from Shadar ghat toTamaruddin of Hatiya Dweep. From there youcan get to Nijhum Dweep by local motor boat. Or you can take a bus or train to Chittagong, from there youneed to go to Hatiya island by motor boat or Sea Truck. From there you can go to Nijhum Dweep by local motorboat. In Hatiya, you will have to go to Jahazmara Bazar by tempo or jeep. From there you can go to Amtali Ghat or Katakhali Ghat by rickshaw. Engine boats are available there to take you to Nijhum dweep. These boats run depending on the wave and tide of sea.

KUTHIBARI OF NOBLEl LAUREAT POET RABINDRANATH TAGORE

Shilaidaha Kuthibadi a historic place associated with RABINDRANATH TAGORE and a tourist spot. It stands on the south bank of the river Padma at Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia district.It's situated,five miles far to north of the district zero point across the Gadai and opposite to the Pabna town on farther north across the Padma.

The birth and death anniversaries of the poet are observed at Silaidaha on a national level on 25 Baishakh and 22 Shraban respectively. Many scholars from home and abroad attend these celebrations and take part in discussions on the life and works of Rabindranath. Cultural functions follow, during which prominent artistes present RABINDRA SONGS.

SEE DHAKA KNOW DHAKA

Picture of oldest Dhaka bye the eye of artist
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SONA MOSJID

Shona Mosque or Chhoto Shona Masjid is located in Chapai Nawabganj district of Bangladesh. The mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Hussain Shah, between the years of 1493 and 1519. The magnificent fifteen domes of the mosque were once gilded in gold, giving the mosque the name of Small Golden Mosque or as it is generally known, the Chhoto Shona Masjid.

It is a simple rectangular structure. It's exterior measuring are 82′ x 57′ x 20′ and interior are 70′- 4″ x 40′- 9″. In has four corner towers, two additional projecting buttressed towers that frame the back of the central mihrab. This brick structure is embellished with Rajmahal black stone facing on the exterior and this transition between materials is visible at the point where the domes begin. All arches and domes are of brick and the transition from the square to the circle of the drum-less domes are achieved with brick stalactite pendentives. It's significant feature is the high quality of stone carving done in shallow relief on the inside and outside walls. These are stone reproduction of highly developed traditional terracotta art of Bangladesh closely resembling woodcarving or filigree work. This is evident from an architectural fragment taken and now kept in the British Museum which shows the image of Buddha on one side and shallow diaper design of Muslim workmanship on the other showing traces of gilding. This mosque was once richly decorated with gilding and gold paint in the tile decoration.

The triple cornice is gently curved and gutters provided for draining water from the roof. The east facade has five multi-cusped pointed arches which form the main entrance to the mosque. Each of the south and north facades has a three-arched doorway that leads directly into the aisles. A central nave divides the north and south prayer hall. The nave is wider than the side halls, measuring 14′-5″ as compared to the 11′-4″ width of the side halls. The nave is emphasized by three chau chala domes (four segmented hut-shaped domes), in contrast to the six hemispherical domes covering the prayer halls. Two rows of chamfered pillars carrying arches divide the south and north prayer halls into three longitudinal aisles. The six domes are arranged such that two are placed in each of the three aisles on either side of the central nave. The domes are arranged in diminishing heights and this is achieved by varying the thickness of the domes.

There is a ladies gallery on the north elevated on slender carved columns. It is a square, two-storied structure and the entrance is from the northwest corner of the mosque through a porch that is elevated to the same height. The entrance porch was covered with a canopy. There is a subterranean passage leading to the northern iwan just below the zenana gallery.

KANTA JI TEMPLE

Kantojiu Temple is a late medieval Hindu temple in Dinajpur, Bangladesh. Built by Maharaja Pran Nath, its construction started in 1702 C.E. and ended in 1752 C.E.,during the reign of his son Maharaja Ramnath. It boasts one of the greatest examples on Terracotta architecture in Bangladesh and once had nine spires, but all were destroyed in an earthquake that took place in 1897.

The temple was built in a nava-ratna (nine-spired) style before the destruction caused by the earthquake of 1897.

The 52 feet square temple is centered in an oblong court, 240 × 120 ft (73 × 37 m), covered by a shed with a roof of corrugated tin. Its main fabric pivots around a nuclear square cell (10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)), reaching a height of about 50 ft (15 m) above its 3 ft 3 in (0.99 m) high slab of stone, thought to have been mined from the ancient ruins of Bannagar near Gangarampur in Dinajpur. Three more square outer shells in graded heights have been added to it, to variegate the plan as well as to strengthen the central sanctuary on top of the massive tower.

The curved cornice from the ground floor, which sharply drops at the corners, rises in the middle to a height of 25 ft 0 in (7.62 m) from the plinth, while the first floor cornice rises to 15' and the second floor to 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m). Small square cells are situated at the four corners of the ground and first floors. They serve the purpose of supporting the weight of the octagonal corner towers above. The temple contains four rectangular alleys on the ground floor circling the prayer hall which measure 30 ft 8 in (9.35 m) by 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m) and 15 ft 6 in (4.72 m) by 4 ft 4 in (1.32 m). On the ground floor. Three multi-cusped arched entrances on each side are present, which are separated by two ornate brick pillars. The number of arched doorways in the ground floor in its four shells is 21; on the first floor it is 27. The second floor, reduced in size, has only three entrance doors and three windows. A narrow staircase, only 2 ft 3 in (0.69 m) wide, is built into the western second corridor. It winds up through the dark passage to the first two stories. Try to destroy in 1971 by Pakistan army.

60 DOME MOSQUE

The Sixty Dome Mosque more commonly known as Shait Gambuj is the largest historical mosque in Bangladesh and one of the most impressive Muslim architectural structures on the Indian Subcontinent.

The mosque was built by Khan Jahan Ali in the 15th century.

The 'Sixty Dome' Mosque has walls of unusually thick, tapered brick in the Tughlaq style and a hut-shaped roofline that anticipates later styles. There are actually seventy-seven (77) low domes arranged in seven rows of eleven, and one dome on each corner, bringing the total to 81 domes. The interior is divided into many aisles and bays by slender columns, which culminate in numerous arches that support the roof.

The mosque is decorated mostly with terracotta and bricks.