Known for
- 1
Where the rivers meet.
Kurigram is shaped by water: the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar run through it, and hundreds of chars rise and vanish with each flood. Chilmari's old river port, famous from the bhawaiya song, is the place to stand on the Brahmaputra.
- 2
Old houses and a Mughal mosque.
Ulipur's Munshibari, the Naodanga zamindar house in Phulbari and the small Chandamari mosque in Rajarhat are the district's heritage; across the Brahmaputra, Rowmari is a world of its own on the Assam border.
Best season
GoodFairNov–Feb
November to February: the rivers are low and calm, chars are walkable and the days cool; mornings are foggy and cold in the north, so pack warm clothes. From June to September floods often cut roads and ghats.
Getting there
Bus
Dhaka
8–9 h
From Gabtoli or Mohakhali
Train
Dhaka
Kurigram Express to Kurigram station
Bus
Rangpur
1.5 h
Frequent local buses
Getting around
Chilmari
Boats across the Brahmaputra to Rowmari and the chars
Buses from Dhaka's Gabtoli and Mohakhali reach Kurigram town in about 8 to 9 hours. The Kurigram Express train runs from Dhaka to Kurigram. From Rangpur it is about an hour and a half by bus. Chilmari and Ulipur are reached by bus or CNG from the town; Rowmari is easiest by boat from Chilmari across the Brahmaputra.
Local food
Shidol bhortaMust try
Fermented dried fish with chilli
River fish from the Brahmaputra and Dharla, shidol and other dried-fish bhortas of the north, and winter pithas made with new rice.
Places to see
Chandamari Mosque
A small three-domed Mughal-era mosque in Chandamari village, Rajarhat, believed to date from between the late sixteenth and late seventeenth centuries, with fine plaster ornament.
River, lake and haorTanvir Rahat · CC BY-SA 4.0Chilmari River Port
The old river port on the Brahmaputra, sung of in the bhawaiya "O ki garial bhai", where boats still cross to Rowmari and the chars over a river several kilometres wide.
Viewpoint and sunset spotNasif05 · CC BY 4.0Dharla Bridge
The road bridge over the Dharla near Kurigram town, where people gather in the evening for the wide river, its sandbanks and the sunset.
Naodanga Zamindar Bari
The house of the Bakshi zamindars at Naodanga in Phulbari, founded by Pramodaranjan Bakshi, who held the British title Bahadur: a worn colonial mansion in a quiet village.
Village and communityTanvir Rahat · CC BY-SA 4.0Rowmari
The upazila across the Brahmaputra on the Assam and Meghalaya border, reached by boat from Chilmari: river crossings, chars, green fields and the hills of India on the horizon.
Fort and palaceSalmaan.ulipur · CC BY-SA 4.0Ulipur Munshibari
The mansion of the Munshi zamindar family at Ulipur, a long pillared front with ornate plaster, temples and a big pond: the finest old house in the district.
Sources 2
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