“LAND OF THE TIGERS”
Though known to many of us in the Western World purely on the basis of having been unlucky enough to have inspired the first of the, now fairly commonplace, rock benefit concerts, the area once known as Bengal has been famous for its picaresque gardens, temples and palaces since the fist century – when it played host to a visit of Pliny the Elder’s. Thirteen-hundred years later Marco Polo would follow in his footsteps . . . and three centuries after that, Frenchman Jean Tavernier followed in the Italian’s. All of them left “Bengal,” so awed by the Hindu Buddhist then Muslim kingdoms they had seen that colonists and conquerors were not far behind.
Today we call those lands Bangladesh.
Tucked into the nook that’s the northward tip of the Bay of Bengal and for the most part surrounded by India—Bangladesh is utterly topographically dominated by the twisting and intertwining veins of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna-Ganges delta. Which is incidentally why the sometimes beleaguered nation suffers from the recurrent flooding that’s made it not only a ‘cause-celeb’ but an even news staple since the 1960s. In addition to offering travelers the chance to visit the crumbling red mansions of colonial era Maharaja’s, the golden sands, soaring cliffs, and well suited to surfing blue waves of the longest stretch of beach in the world and a plethora of colorful animist archaeological sites that date back well over twenty-five-hundred years—Bangladesh just happens to host a few of the remaining stands of emerald jungle that mythologized the Gangetic plain in the West. Those brave enough to dare their confines may very well find themselves confronted by a scintillating panoply of wildlife—made up of everything from a perversely wide selection of venomous serpents, to pythons, crocodiles, mongooses, gibbons, a smattering of black bears, an overt abundance of often troublesome monkeys, leopards, elephants and of course the world’s most beautifully fearsome man-eaters—the Royal Bengal Tigers.
You’ll definitely be arriving in country via the capital city of Dhaka’s increasingly well-traveled international airport, because the routes in from Myanmar have been closed since the 1950’s and the status of the routes in from India remains tenuous to say the least. Dhaka rests very near the center of the country on the northern bank of the Buringanga River. And, for those who’ve traveled through South-East Asia before it will doubtlessly provide a peculiar kind of relaxing shock, especially when its lazy waterfront districts are favorably compared to the throbbing never-dark streets of Bangkok. While there, you’ll want to head down into the Old City (an area that dates as far back as Mogul times) to pay respectful visits to both the Dalan and Hussain Mosques, take a look over the pink facades of the Ahsan Manzil Palace and soak up the never-completed sixteenth century atmospheres of Lalbagh Fort.
Indiana Jones wannabes will almost immediately want to escape Bangladeshi city life, such as it is, and head across country to visit to visit the oldest archaeological site the country so far has to offer. Mahasthangarh sits on the western bank of river Karatoa, north of Bogra Town. The imposing site consists of a fortified, oblong enclosure that measures around 5,000 by 4,500 and lifts itself up off the surrounding paddy fields an average of fifteen feet in some place and more in others. Beyond those green walls, a whole series of ancient ruins, known locally as Govinda Bhita, Khodai Pathar, Mankalir Kunda, Parasuramer Bedi and Jiyat Kunda, surround that fortified city for a radius of about five miles.
Though it dates back to the third century, the area is still held to be of sacred importance by the Hindus. Until recently, once every April, and once in every twelve Decembers, several thousand Hindu devotees would join in a bathing ceremony celebrated of on the bank of the Karatoa River. Don’t forget to visit Mahasthangarh’s site museum for a chance to view the wide variety of antiquities, ranging from gold ornaments to terracotta objects and coins recovered from the site over the years.
Archaeology buffs will also want to head northward from Mahasthangarh to see the eighth to twelfth century Buddhist remains of the Mainamati-Laimai Range. It’s a low, isolated, stretch of hill-country (or what passes for hill country in perennially flat Bangladesh) studded by more than fifty ancient settlements extending through the centre of the district of Comilla. Of these, you definitely want to visit Kotila Mura, Charpatra Mura, and Salban Vihara. Resting atop a flattened hillock, the sanctuary of Kotila Mura is a picturesque Buddhist establishment where a trio of, photo-friendly, stupas reside side by side—representing the three jewels of the Buddhist "Trinity"—that is to say: The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Charpatra Mura on the other had is a small oblong shrine, situated to the north-west of Kotila Mura, where four ‘royal copper-plate decrees’ from Bengal’s ancient rulers were found. Situated very near the middle of the hill range, Salban Vihara, awaits—consisting of 115 cells constructed around a beautifully spacious courtyard with a cruciform temple in its center that facing the only gateway.
Like many others in Bangladesh, Mainamati boasts an excellent site museum. On display, you’ll find over one-hundred and fifty bronze statues that have been recovered from the monastic cells over the years, a rich and varied collection of copper plates, gold and silver coins, bronze stupas, stone sculptures and hundreds of terracotta plaques.
Once the needs of your adventurous, fedora-wearing, side have been properly satiated you’ll be pleased to find that Bangladesh also has a beachcomber haven or two to call its own. Home to the world’s longest beach, Cox’s Bazar slopes gently down into the perfectly-blue waters of the Bay of Bengal for well over a seventy shark-free miles. It’s an incredible, and not crowded at all, stretch of silver-gold sand, backed by a set of easy hills covered in tropical-forests. The shoreline is especially impressive at sunset and sunrise as the sand appears to change colors at those times. A number of quite scenic towns in the area offer some excellent opportunities to shop for handmade crafts, clothes and jewelry. If the beach-life is your thing, you’ll also want head down the coast and hop a boat or ferry over to the laid-back tropical paradise of Saint Martin Island. Because it isn’t exactly a tourist Mecca just yet, it offers not only a coral beach dotted with rare conch shells and some of the best sea-food you’ll ever have—but also a sense of private remoteness available in few other places possessed by so much natural beauty.
Head out when the weather is at its best—between October and February.
