Khagrachari

About Khagrachari

Khagrachari is the northernmost of the three Chittagong Hill Tracts districts. The Indian state of Tripura wraps around it to the north and west, Rangamati lies to the east and Chattogram to the south-west. The district town sits in a valley on the Chengi river, the longest river in the district, and the Feni and Maini also rise or flow here. Nine upazilas make up the district: Khagrachari Sadar, Dighinala, Panchhari, Mahalchhari, Lakshmichhari, Manikchhari, Matiranga, Ramgarh and Guimara.

The landscape is one of rolling green hills and narrow valleys, less steep than Bandarban but still a world apart from the delta. The 2022 census counted about 714,000 people, roughly half of them from Indigenous communities: the Chakma are the largest group, followed by the Tripura and the Marma, and Bengalis make up most of the rest. Buddhist temples, Hindu shrines, churches and mosques mark the different communities, and village life still revolves around hillside farming and weekly markets.

History

The name is usually explained as a combination of khagra, a reed or catkin grass that once grew thickly along the river, and chhara, the local word for a hill stream. For centuries the area sat loosely between the Tripura kingdom, the Arakanese and the Bengal sultans. The British East India Company gained nominal authority in 1760 but mostly collected tribute, and in 1860 the Chittagong Hill Tracts became a separate district. The area of present-day Khagrachari became the seat of the Mong Circle, the third traditional chiefdom of the hill tracts, whose Marma chief, the Mong Raja, is based at Manikchhari.

Khagrachari became a subdivision in the early twentieth century and a district in 1983. The 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord turned its local council into the Khagrachari Hill District Council, which today runs many local services. Ramgarh has a special place in national history: the force raised there in 1795 as the Ramgarh Local Battalion is regarded as the origin of today's Border Guard Bangladesh.

Economy and livelihoods

Most families live from farming. Jhum cultivation on the slopes produces hill rice, maize, sesame, cucumbers, pumpkins, chillies, ginger and turmeric, while terraced orchards of mango, pineapple, jackfruit, lychee and citrus have spread fast in recent years, and Khagrachari's mangoes now reach markets across the country. Bamboo, timber and handloom weaving support many households, and tourism is a growing source of income thanks to the stream of visitors heading to Sajek. The Bangladesh–India Maitri Setu over the Feni river at Ramgarh, opened in 2021, links the district to Sabroom in Tripura.

Food, culture and festivals

The biggest festival is the mid-April new year, celebrated as Biju by the Chakma, Boisuk by the Tripura and Sangrai by the Marma; the joint name Boi-Sa-Bi is used for the whole season. On the first day, flowers are floated on the Chengi and other rivers, and later come water play, traditional games and visits from house to house with home-made dishes. Buddhist festivals such as Kathin Chibar Dan, when monks are offered robes woven in a single day, are also important.

Weaving is a living art. Chakma women wear the pinon and hadi, and Tripura women the rignai and risa, all woven on traditional waist looms with patterns that identify each community. Food draws on bamboo shoots, jungle vegetables, fermented fish and meat cooked in bamboo tubes, and visitors can try these dishes in small restaurants in Khagrachari town.

Places to visit in Khagrachari

1. Alutila cave, Matiranga

   A dark, narrow natural tunnel through a hill near the Khagrachari–Chattogram road. Visitors walk through by torchlight over a stony stream bed, and the hilltop above has views over the district.

2. Risang waterfall

   A waterfall in Matiranga upazila that slides down a sloping rock face, reached by a short hike through hills; it flows most strongly from the monsoon into autumn.

3. Hill District Council Park

   A landscaped park on the edge of Khagrachari town with a hanging bridge, lake and viewpoints over the surrounding hills, popular with families.

4. Ramgarh

   A border town with a lake, tea gardens and the memorial to the Ramgarh Local Battalion, the origin of the Border Guard Bangladesh, as well as the Maitri Setu bridge to Tripura.

5. Gateway to Sajek

   Sajek Valley lies in neighbouring Rangamati district but is reached by road from Khagrachari via Dighinala, and most visitors stay a night in Khagrachari town before or after.

What Khagrachari is famous for

• Khagrachari hill mango
• Hill pineapple
• Chakma pinon-hadi handloom
• Jhum-grown turmeric and ginger

How to get to Khagrachari

Direct buses run from Dhaka to Khagrachari town, mostly overnight, and take roughly seven to eight hours via Feni and Ramgarh. From Chattogram, buses from the Oxygen area take about three to four hours. There is no airport or railway in the district; the nearest airport is in Chattogram and the nearest railway station is at Feni. Local jeeps known as chander gari are the usual way to reach Sajek and other sights. Bangladeshi visitors can generally travel freely in the district, but foreign nationals need permission from the district administration, and the road to Sajek has used army-escorted convoys from Baghaihat at fixed times. Rules change with the security situation, so check before you travel.

Markets and haats

Khagrachari town bazaar

The main market of the district, where farmers from surrounding villages sell hill vegetables, fruit, dried fish and bamboo shoots, and shops sell handwoven pinon, hadi and shawls.

Boalkhali haat, Dighinala

One of the oldest trading centres in the district, where Pahari and Bengali traders meet on market day to sell jhum vegetables, fruit, bamboo and cane crafts.

Larma Square market, Dighinala

A daily afternoon market where mostly women vendors sell vegetables, fruit, spices and household goods from the surrounding hills.

Khagrachari at a glance

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Questions about Khagrachari

More districts in Chattogram Division

• Bandarban Cloud-wrapped hills, the Sangu river and the highest peaks in Bangladesh
• Brahmanbaria The Titas, classical music, chhanamukhi and the gas fields that power the east
• Chandpur The home of hilsa, where the Padma, Meghna and Dakatia meet
• Chattogram Port city, green hills and mezban: the commercial capital of Bangladesh
• Cumilla Mainamati's Buddhist ruins, khadi cloth and the rasmalai everyone asks for
• Cox's Bazar An unbroken sea beach, the Marine Drive, dried fish and salt fields
• Feni The gateway between Dhaka and Chattogram, home of Khandal's sweets
• Lakshmipur Soybean fields, coconut and betel nut groves on the Meghna estuary
• Noakhali New land from the Meghna: Hatiya, Nijhum Dwip and a famous dialect
• Rangamati Kaptai Lake, the hanging bridge and Sajek: the lake district of the hills