Village and community, Netrokona
Birishiriবিরিশিরি
- Time needed
- A full day with the sights around; a night to see it properly.
- best months
- Nov–Feb
The village across the Someshwari from Durgapur bazar that gives the whole area its name among travellers: Garo and Hajong homes, mission schools from the British years, the cultural academy, and the base for the river, the white clay hills and Ranikhong.
Plan your visit
- Best time
- November to February; the Moni Singh fair in early December.
At a glance
- People
- About 60 % Garo, with Hajong, Bangali Muslim and Hindu families
- Stay
- YMCA and YWCA guest houses, hotels in Durgapur bazar
- From Dhaka
- About 180 km; 5–6 hours by bus from Mohakhali
About
Birishiri is technically a ward of Durgapur municipality, but the Someshwari separates the two and everyone treats it as its own place. Roughly six in ten of its people are Garo, with Hajong, Bangali Muslim and Hindu families besides, and the village has the look of the mission settlements of the British years: the century-old boys' and girls' high schools, churches, tidy lanes under big trees, and the Tribal Cultural Academy on the edge of the fields. The YMCA and YWCA guest houses here are where most visitors sleep, and the bus stand gives the village its name across the country.
From Birishiri everything is close. The river is a few minutes' walk, wide and shallow over pebbles in the dry months, with sand roads running across its bed to the Bijoypur side; the white clay hills, Ranikhong mission on its hill and the Someshwar Pathak rajbari in Durgapur are each a short motorcycle ride. Sagar Dighi and Kamala Rani's dighi lie between the villages and the hills.
It is a place to walk early, when the Garo Hills show behind the river, and to sit by the water at the end of the day.
Getting there: Bus from Mohakhali to Durgapur, or train to Netrokona and a bus or CNG for the last 40 km; from Durgapur bazar cross the Someshwari by auto on the sand track, or by boat in the rains.
Things to do
- Walk to the Someshwari at dawn for the Garo Hills behind the water.
- Hire a motorcycle for the loop: Bijoypur, Ranikhong, the rajbari and the dighis.
- Visit the cultural academy and ask about the next programme.
Good to know
- Book the YMCA or YWCA ahead on winter weekends; they fill with groups.
- It is a village of homes and churches: ask before photographing people, and dress modestly.
- The river floods fast after rain in Meghalaya; in the monsoon check the crossing before you plan a day across it.
