Known for
- 1
Old mosques on the Titas.
Brahmanbaria's two protected mosques, Arifail at Sarail and Ulchapara outside the town, are Mughal-period buildings beside big tanks, still in use and easy to reach from the Dhaka–Sylhet road.
- 2
Music and a 28-foot Shiva.
This is Ustad Alauddin Khan's district, the home of a whole school of classical musicians; the Kal Bhairab temple at Medda has one of the largest Shiva images anywhere, and the Titas river that Adwaita Mallabarman wrote about runs through the middle of it.
Best season
GoodFairNov–Feb
November to February for walking around the mosques and the river ghats. The haors on the north side fill from June to September and the district turns to water; the Titas is at its best for a boat then. Nothing here is weather-dependent enough to plan around.
Getting there
Train
Dhaka
2–2.5 h
All Dhaka–Sylhet and Dhaka–Chattogram (via Akhaura) intercity trains stop
Bus
Dhaka
2.5–3 h, ৳250–400
From Sayedabad via Bhairab
Getting around
In the district
CNG from the town to Ulchapara and Medda; bus or CNG up the Sylhet road to Sarail for Arifail
Brahmanbaria is on the Dhaka–Sylhet railway: every intercity train between the two stops here, about 2 hours from Dhaka. Buses from Sayedabad take 2.5 to 3 hours by the Bhairab bridge. Ashuganj, across the Meghna, is the river port and power-station town where the Dhaka road crosses. Inside the district the Dhaka–Sylhet highway runs north to Sarail; CNGs do the rest.
Local food
ChhanamukhiMust try
Diced chhana in a sugar crust, the town's own sweet
Titas fish
Fresh from the river in the bazar hotels
Chhanamukhi, the sugar-crusted sweet of Brahmanbaria, from the old shops in the town; the river fish of the Titas and the Meghna in the bazar hotels; and in haor season, the small fish and duck of the north.
Places to see
Mosque and shrineMohammad Hedayet Sarker · CC BY-SA 4.0Arifail Mosque
A protected 17th-century mosque at Sarail, beside the big Sagardighi tank: two domes on a long hall, thick walls, corner towers and plaster ornament, with a pair of old tombs in the yard.
Gangasagar Dighi
A large old tank at Gangasagar on the Akhaura road, said to have been dug by the Tripura kings, with a bathing festival in the spring and a railway halt named after it.
Fort and palaceRedmin · CC BY-SA 4.0Haripur Zamindar Bari
The big three-storey zamindar house at Haripur in Nasirnagar, built by Krishna Prasad Roy Choudhury around the turn of the 20th century: sixty rooms, a pillared front and a long decline since the family left.
Hindu templeSubrata Roy · CC BY-SA 3.0Kal Bhairab Temple, Medda
The Shiva temple at Medda on the Titas bank, famous for its 28-foot image of Kal Bhairab, one of the largest Shiva figures anywhere; big crowds at Shivaratri and a fair in the spring.
Mosque and shrineZulfiquar Aungshu · CC BY-SA 4.0Ulchapara Mosque
A three-domed Mughal mosque of 1727–28 in Ulchapara village on the edge of the town, built by a merchant named Shah Murad whose grave lies beside it; a listed monument still in daily use.
Sources 2
Times, fares and opening hours change. Check before you go.
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