Lauachora National Park

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Cox's Bazar, the world's longest natural sandy sea beach...

COX’S BAZAR
Welcome to beach life, Bangladehsi style. The usual question, ‘Why have you come here?’ doesn’t get asked because the answer is obvious – you’ve come to be at the seaside. Cox’s Bazar is both loved and loathed. On the one hand, it has an impressive beach. On the other, it is becoming carelessly overdeveloped and there are criminal elements to watch out for. Don’t come expecting Goa; just surrender to the enthusiasm of Bangladeshi holiday-makers. There is a good range of hotels, which give generous discounts in the winter season. Alcohol is readily available.
The surrounding area, adjacent to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, runs South Downs the coastline to the Myanmar border. The culture here is less overtly Muslim, or even Hindu for that matter; it has a more Burmese-Buddhist atmosphere.



Cox's Bazar is a town, a fishing port and district headquarter in Bangladesh. It is known for its wide sandy beach which is claimed to be the world's longest natural sandy sea beach.It is an unbroken 125 km sandy sea beach with a gentle slope. Since the rise and fall of the tide here is not great, it is a good place for sea bathing. 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 pie was specially mobilized 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.



HISTORY
This region was a favorite of the Mogh pirates who, with the Portuguese, ravaged the Bay of Bengal in the 17th century. The Moghs have remained, maintaining their tribal ways through handicrafts and cottage industries, while to some degree also assimilating into the dominant Muslim culture.
When the area was taken over by the British in 1760, Captain Hiram Cox founded the town as a refuge for the Arakanese, who were fleeing their homeland after being conquered by the Burmese. These new refugees Mogh settlers erected a number of stupas on the low hills around town. In recent years there has been a new influx from Arakan, now known as Rakhine state in Myanmar. In the early 1990w at least 250,000 Rohingyas (Muslims from Rakhine) fled to Bangladesh to escape persecution by Myanmar’s military regime. There has also been an influx of migrant workers fro, Rakhine, attracted by the relatively better wages and security. Many work as laborers and rickshaw drivers.


Tourist attractions near the town
Local hotels arrange beachside accessories for the tourists at Cox's Bazar
The beach is the main attraction of the town. Larger hotels provide exclusive beachside area with accessories for the hotel guests. Visitors in other hotels visit the Laboni beach which is the area of the beach closest to the town. Other than the beach there are several places of interest near the town which can easily be visited from town center.
• Aggmeda Khyang: a large Buddhist monastery, and a place revered by around 400,000 Buddhist people of Cox’s Bazar; and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The main sanctuary is posted on a series of round timber columns. It has a prayer chamber and an assembly hall along with a repository of large and small bronze Buddha images and a number of old manuscripts.
• Ramu: about 10 km from Cox’s Bazar,[14] is a village with a sizeable Buddhist population. The village is famous for its handicrafts and homemade cigars. There are monasteries, khyangs and pagodas containing images of Buddha in gold, bronze and other metals inlaid with precious stones. One of the most interesting of these temples is on the bank of the Baghkhali river. It houses not only interesting relics and Burmes handicrafts but also a large bronze statue of Buddha measuring thirteen feet high and rests on a six feet high pedestal. The wood carving of this khyang is very delicate and refined. The village has a charm of its own. Weavers ply their trade in open workshops and craftsmen make handmade cigars in their pagoda like houses.
• Dulhazra Safari Park: This safari park is an extension of an animal sanctuary located along the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar road about 50 km from Cox's Bazar town. The sanctuary itself protects a large number of wild elephants which are native to the area. In the safari park there are domesticated elephants which are available for a ride. Other animal attractions include lions, Bengal tigers, Crocodiles, Bears, Chitals and lots of different types of birds and monkeys.
Risks and Hazards
The coastal areas of Cox's Bazar are prone to devastating cyclones and landslides on a yearly basis. The areas near the Cox’s Bazar town are located directly in the high risk area for surge water heights above 1 meter as well as landslides. There was a 70% casualty rate near the town area during the 1991 cyclone. Another hazard of the Cox's Bazar area is the high natural background radiation which has been found to be above global average. There has been reported incidents of human casualty due to actions of wild elephants in the locality. The threat of mosquito borne diseases like Malaria also may be higher in the area.However, all these hazards mainly affect long term residents of the area and visiting tourists should be able to guard against these risks with appropriate precautions.
The beach
The main attraction of Cox's Bazar is the long sandy beach that stretches from the mouth of the Bakkhali river going all the way to Teknaf. Although commonly known as Cox's Bazar beach, it stretches far beyond the area designated as Cox's Bazar town.
Tourists and accommodation
Cox's Bazar, arguably the best tourist spot in Bangladesh, is visited by a large number of tourist from Britain, America, Korea, Japan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and many more countries each year. Though there is no specific record in Bangladesh Porjatan Corporation (BPC) on how many people usually visit Cox's Bazar each year but an AFP report says that during the winter 10,000 available rooms in the beach area hotels usually remain occupied almost seven days a week. Accommodation near the beach varies from an expensive range to a reasonable price. Many private hotels, BPC Motels and two Five Star hotels are located near the beach.
Places of interest along the beach
Cox’s Bazar, mostly famous for its beautiful sea beach and the sunset, has several other attractions, including:

Himchari
• 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.
Mineral content in beach sand
The sand at Cox's Bazar beach and surrounding areas is rich in heavy-metal mineral content. The heavy minerals of Cox's Bazar beach sands are dominated by hornblende, garnet, epidote, ilmenites (both unaltered and altered) with magnetite, rutile, pyrite and some hydroxides. Cox's Bazar beach alone is believed to have a deposit of 5.119 Mt of minerals @ 0.04% mon, while nearby Enani beach is expected to have another deposit of 0.729 Mt. of minerals @ 0.13% mon. Surrounding islands of Maheshkhali, Kutubdia and Nijhum Deep as well as mainland beach in Teknaf area are also believed to have similar large deposits. The total deposit in these locations is about 20.5 million tons of raw sand, which contains 4.4 million tons of heavy minerals (sp gr > 2.9).

Sundarbans



The sundarbans is the largest littoral mangrove belt in the world, stretching 80km into the hinterland from the coast. The forests aren’t just mangrove swamps; they include some of the last remaining stands of the mighty jungles that once covered the Gangetic Plain.



The Sundarbans begin about 5km south-west of Mongla along the Pusur River, and cover an area of nearly 3600 sq km in Bangladesh and another 2400sq km in India. This is still thought to be half the size it was 200 years ago. About one-third of the total area of this forest is covered in water – river channels, canals and tidal creeks varying in width from a few metres to a few kilometers. The land is constantly being reshaped by tidal action, and cyclones wreak havoc.
The ecological balance of these impenetrable forests is extremely delicate and influenced greatly by tidal shifts that affect the salinity, and hence the growth rates, of the surrounding vegetation. The eclectic inhabitants of the Sundarbans range from deer, pigs and crabs to the mighty Bengal tiger. The Divisional Forestry Office supervises activities to protect the delicate ecological balance and botanists, zoologists, environmentalists and conservationists around the world keep eager eyes on this ecological repository.

ST MARTIN’S ISLAND

ST MARTIN’S ISLAND
Some 10km south of the Teknaf peninsula tip, St Martin’s is the country’s only coral island, and one of its highlights. Between 1890 and 1900, about 60 people settled on the island, which has now grown to a population of around 8000. The majority of the island’s inhabitants is Islamic, and live primarily off fishing.
Named after a British provincial governor and called Narikel Jinjira (Coconut Island) by the locals, the dumbbell-shaped island has an area of about 8 sq km, which reduces to about 5 sq km during high tide. The main island to the north, Uttar Para, gradually narrows several kilometers southward, to a point where it’s roughly 100m wide. Three smaller islands, Zinjira, Galachira and Ciradia, are located just south of the main island. At low tide they’re essentially one body of land, connected to the main island by a narrow strip of land.



St Martin’s Island is a special place. There is no question of its enormous potential as a tourist destination, but far less certain is how it will establish a sustainable tourist infrastructure without compromising the things that attract tourists in the first place, such as unspoilt beaches, amiable islanders and the absence of soulless concrete buildings. The occasional boisterousness of young holiday-makers that already disrupts the serenity may prove to be something of a prophecy. Entrepreneurs are increasingly becoming aware of the island’s economic potential and environmental and cultural vulnerability, but only time will tell whether their eco-promises are kept.
ACTIVITY
Locals assert that St Martin’s is a better place to dive and snorkel than Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. This might not be the case, but there is certainly the option of doing both. A new diving business, Oceanic has recently opened. To find if, take a left at the small road at the end of the restaurant strip on the beach, it’s a couple of hundred metres along on the right. Prices are yet to be fixed and are therefore still negotiable. Its proprietor is an ex-navy diver (with a great yarn about a Bengal tiger). Make sure you pick your time for optimal visibility-not too soon after rain.

Kuakata, The daughter of the Sea

Kuakata, locally known as Sagar Kannya (Daughter of the Sea) is a rare scenic beauty spot on the southernmost tip of Bangladesh. Kuakata in Latachapli union under Kalapara Police Station of Patuakhali district is about 30 km in length and 6 km in breadth. It is 70 km from Patuakhali district headquarters and 320 km from Dhaka. At Kuakata excellent combination of the picturesque natural beauty, sandy beach, blue sky, huge expanse of water of the Bay and evergreen forest in really eye-catching..
This isolated beach at the southern tip of the delta, about 100km from Barisal, was named by the original Mogh (Rakhine) Buddhist settlers whose ancestors remain today. Kua means ‘well’ and Kata means ‘dug’.

It is a famous destination for people around Bangladesh and from overseas. The most important attraction of the beach is that one can see both sunrise and sunset from some of its locations. The government and local business owners have made currently significant development. Not so long ago tourists were uncomfortable to visit Kuakata due to poor communication systems and dangerous road conditions. Beside that the local communities were not very supportive towards the tourists; resulting some unpleasant events in the beach area.
But now, those days seems gone from Kuakata beach. People are now more business concerned and communications are much better than before. A new Police station was build 4 years ago and Community awareness is in place.



The river mouths east and west of the beach ensure that the sea is rather murky, and sharks drying on racks along the beach similarly don’t augur well for swimming. Though Kuakata isn’t the archetypal turquoise tropical ocean, the vibe is right. Quieter and less developed than Cox’s Bazar, Kuakata affords the opportunity to watch the sun both rise and set over the Bay of Bengal.



There is a Buddhist temple close to the Parjatan Motel, about 100m from the beach on a slightly raised mound. The tin-walled shrine holds a 100 year old statue of Buddha, said to be the largest in the country. The nearby forestry reserve is pleasant but succumbing to illegal logging. Some travelers report that hiring a fisherman to take you to nearby forested islands is a pleasant excursion.



Transportation
There exists road communication between Dhaka and Patuakhali district headquarters. Accessible by road, water or air transport up to Barisal. Then one may travel by road or water to Kuakata or Patuakhali.
BRTC has introduced direct bus service from Dhaka to Kuakata via Barisal. Besides that, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, National Tourism Organization may organize guided package tours from Dhaka to Kuakata on demand. For rates and booking you may contact: Manager (Tours), Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, 233, Airport Road, Tejgaon, Dhaka-1215. Phone : 8117855-9, Fax : 880-2-8117235.E-mail : bpcho@bangla.net

PARJATAN FACILITIES :
Parjatan Holiday Homes at Kuakata is an ideal tourist resort having a number of facilities for the tourists.
Deluxe Motel 10 twin rooms
Dormitory 30 beds
Restaurant 50 seating
Room Tariffs AC-Twin Tk. 1250.00
Non-AC-Twin Tk. 500.00
Dormitory (Per bed) Tk. 150.00

Other facilities:
A pond of crystal clean sweet water beside the motel attracts the tourists. For advance reservation and further details one may contact: Central Reservation, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. Head Office, 233, Airport Road, Tejgaon, Dhaka. Phone: 880-2- 8119192, 880-2-8117855-9, Fax : 880-2-8117235. E-mail : bpcho@bangla.net

Launch-a pleasure waterway trip:

From Sadarghat 2 or 3 vehicles launches to Patuakhali.
Starting Time: 5:30, 6:30 and 7 pm
Arrival time in Patuakhali Launch Ghat: 6 am next morning
Vehicle Name: Sunderbaban, Saikat, Sattar Khan, Achol
Rent: Cabin (single) Tk. 350, (double) Tk. 600, (family) Tk.700 (VIP-AC) 1500
Deck Tk. 150
You can book your seat by cell phone

When you arrive Patuakhali, you can have your breakfast in any hotel nearby and go to the bus dipo by rickshaws. Local bus there will take Tk. 60 and direct bus will take Tk. 80 to take you to kuakata beach by 5 and 3.5 hours.

Sonargaon and Panam City

Sonargaon and panam city



On the Dhaka-Chittagong highway about 29 km from Dhaka, Sonargaon is one of the oldest capitals of Bengal. It was the seat of Deva Dynasty until the 13th century. From that century onward till the advent of the Mughals, Sonargaon was the subsidiary capital of the Sultanate of Bengal.



Another name of Sonargaon was "The City of Panam". Now, the relies of buildings of the old dynasties, Goaldia Mosque and the Folklore Museum that houses artifacts from every cultural trait of the country increase the attractions of this place.



At Jainal Abedin Museum in Sonargaon, you will find some historical and archeological things. Among the ancient monuments still intact are the Tomb of Sultan Ghiasuddin (1399-1409 A. D), the shrines of Panjpirs and Shah Abdul Alia and a beautiful mosque in Goaldi villaae.
Panam an ancient locality now in Sonargaon thana of Narayanganj district, about 2.5 kilometre to the north of Dhaka-Chittagong highway at MOGRAPARA point. It is said to have been the site of Hindu capital city of SONARGAON emerging in the last quarter of the thirteenth century. The Panam area formed part of the Muslim metropolis developed on the south of the old city, and perhaps constituted the place of residence of the early Muslim governors.



After the Mughal conquest of Sonargaon (1611) the Panam area was connected with the ruling metropolis by construction of highways and bridges. Panam still possesses three brick bridges belonging to the Mughal period: PANAM BRIDGE, DALALPUR BRIDGE and PANAMNAGAR BRIDGE. The existence of these bridges and the canals enclosing the site on three sides is indicative of its being a sub-urban area of the medieval city. The pucca road which leads from the Mograpara crossing on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in the direction of Panam extending up to the NEEL-KUTHI looks like a dividing line between medieval Sonargaon and the present Panamnagar, the only surviving relics of the Panam area. The Panam township stands on the east of this road opposite Aminpur, and a one-arched humped bridge leads from the same road over a narrow canal to the main street of Panamnagar.



In all probability the present Panamnagar grew as a by-product of the commercial activities of the English EAST INDIA COMPANY and the PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. Sonargaon developed into a centre of trade in cotton fabrics, chiefly English piece goods, during the colonial period, and thereby grew the new township of Panamnagar. A group of Hindu talukdars, who came into being from among the traders in the nineteenth century, chose this place as their residence. The existing brick buildings of Panamnagar, obviously the residence of the Hindu merchant-talukdars, can be dated back to early nineteenth, and the later ones to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Panamnagar which developed in the nineteenth century continued to flourish till the end of the Second World War.



Panamnagar, a unique township, stretched in a single street 5 metre wide on the average and 600 metre in length. All the buildings have the character of urban street front houses and are lined up on either side of this street which ends up at the Panam bazar. Fifty two houses exist in dilapidated and disused condition having 31 in the north side of the street and 21 on the south. Panamnagar appears to be well protected by artificial canals all around. Two fairly wide canals run parallel to the street on its either side and joined by a narrow canal on the western side over which is the entrance bridge. On the eastern side, the canal on the south swerves rightward and goes eastward crossing the north-south road that passes through the Panam bazar. The northern canal, the Pankhiraj Khal, runs eastward to meet the Meghna-Menikhali stream.
The building layouts in Panamnagar are both detached and attached types, mostly rectangular in shape and elongated in the north-south direction. Height of the buildings varies from single to three storeys. A shared use of backyard facilities among the adjoining houses can be observed from the layout of pond, ghat, well etc. The buildings follow a pattern language by which a unity has been achieved, like the use of two or three storey height, symmetry, arched openings etc. On the other hand variety has been achieved through the introduction of verandahs, balconies, loggias and porches. The crowning of the buildings with decorative parapet and projected cornice fascinatingly interlocks the structures with sky in the backdrop. The decorative treatments were transposed from European architecture and blended in places with local motifs.



Bricks of Panam, the prime construction material, have been modeled in different shape like rounded, angular, arched, pointed, semi-circular, curvilinear etc according to the need of surface articulation. The thickness of brick masonry walls vary between 50 and 70 cm. Roof stands on rafter and purlin made of wood in most cases. False wooden doors and windows shaped with plaster are also applied as a common decorative element. Cast iron brackets, ventilators, window grill, balusters have been extensively used. The use of broken China, locally known as chinitikri, is almost common in interior decoration while its stray application is visible in exterior decoration. Decoration elements have been extensively applied in the space between the arch and ceiling.
According to building layout design the dwelling houses of Panam can be classified into three basic typologies: central hall type, central courtyard type and consolidated type. The central halls being the nerve centre of the houses are highly romanticised with extensive decorations. The building activities and layout are arranged around the courtyards which are essentially enclosed, paved and open to sky. In general the courtyards are surrounded by verandah on all sides having arched openings. Consolidated typology refers to those houses without any inner court or hall. Most of the houses, particularly the single storeyed ones, belong to this typology.
Panam had altogether been a Hindu populated area. The migration of the Hindus to India after the Indo-Pak War of 1965 has reduced Panamnagar into an empty township. [Muazzam Hussain Khan]



Sonargaon's importance in the pre-Muslim period is borne out by its ancient name of Suvarnagrama (the golden village), from which it is obvious how the Muslim version of the name is derived, as well as by the existence of Langalbandh and Panchamighat, the two traditional holy bathing places of the Hindus, in this tract of land on the west bank of the old Brahmaputra. Sonargaon rose to be the seat of an independent ruler under Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah, and after his fall it was the headquarters of the eastern province of Bengal under the Tughlaqs till 1338. Sonargaon emerged as the capital of an independent Sultanate under Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah (1338-1349). In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Panam Nagar was developed in a part of medieval Sonargaon.

By the second Quarter of the fourteenth century AD Sonargaon had developed into a commercial metropolis; seafaring boats could easily reach Sonargaon from west Asian and southeast Asian countries. Ibn Batuta describes Sonargaon as an important port city, which had direct commercial relations with countries like China, Indonesia (Java) and the Maldives. Muslin produced in Sonargaon, especially its finest variety called khasa, had a worldwide reputation. With the loss of political status in the second decade of the seventeenth century AD Sonargaon gradually lost its commercial importance as well. It again rose to some eminence in the nineteenth century AD when Panam Nagar was established as a trading centre in cotton fabrics, chiefly English piece goods. Sonargaon developed into a seat of Islamic learning under the versatile scholar Maulana Sharfuddin Abu Tawwamah of Bokhara who came to Sonargaon sometime between 1282 and 1287 and established a Khanqah and madrasa wherein all branches of Islamic learning as well as secular sciences were taught and studied.