Kurigram

About Kurigram

Kurigram lies at the northern tip of Bangladesh. India surrounds it on three sides: West Bengal to the north and Assam and Meghalaya to the east. Lalmonirhat and Rangpur lie to the west, and Gaibandha and Jamalpur to the south. The district covers about 2,245 square kilometres in nine upazilas. In 2022 the census counted roughly 2.33 million people, a little over a fifth of them in towns.

Few districts have as much water. The Brahmaputra enters Bangladesh here from Assam and flows south past Chilmari and Roumari. The Teesta, the Dharla and the Dudhkumar all join it within the district, along with smaller rivers such as the Phulkumar and the Jinjiram. Between their channels lie hundreds of chars, islands of sand and silt. People there farm, herd buffalo and move house whenever erosion forces them to. Ulipur, Chilmari, Roumari and Char Rajibpur are the true char upazilas, and Bhurungamari and Nageshwari in the north are on higher land.

History

The origin of the name is uncertain. The most common story says a Cooch Behar ruler settled twenty ("kuri") families here, and the "village of twenty" became Kurigram. For centuries the area changed hands between Kamrup, Cooch Behar and the Bengal sultans and Mughals. The British made it a subdivision of Rangpur in the 1870s, and it became a district in 1984. During the 1971 Liberation War, Roumari on the far bank of the Brahmaputra stayed under freedom fighters' control, and Kurigram town was freed in early December.

In the past, Kurigram suffered from monga, the lean months before the aman harvest, and it still ranks among the poorest districts in the country. New bridges are changing that. The Dharla Bridge links the northern upazilas with the rest of the district, and the Maulana Bhashani Bridge, opened over the Teesta in 2025, connects Chilmari with Gaibandha. The 2015 enclave exchange also brought former enclaves such as Dasiar Chhara in Phulbari into Bangladesh.

Economy and livelihoods

Farming is the main source of income. On the mainland people grow rice, jute, wheat, potatoes and tobacco. The chars produce maize, peanuts, chilli, mustard, pulses and the foxtail millet called kaon. Buffalo herds graze on the char grasslands, and their milk goes into curd and sweets. Fishing in the rivers is a large seasonal livelihood. Trade with India runs through the Sonahat land port in Bhurungamari, and Chilmari river port links the district by water with Roumari, Rajibpur and the south. Many young people also travel to Dhaka and Narayanganj for factory and construction work.

Food, culture and festivals

Kurigram is one of the heartlands of Bhawaiya, the slow folk song of North Bengal sung by bullock-cart drivers and boatmen. The best-known Bhawaiya song asks the cart driver to hurry to Chilmari port, so the place name is familiar to music lovers across Bengal. Local speech is a strong Rangpuri dialect. On the chars, boat races, Ganga puja on the riverbanks and harvest fairs mark the year. The district's best-known sweet is chomchom made from buffalo-milk chhana on the Brahmaputra chars, and people here have their own name for it.

Places to visit in Kurigram

1. Chilmari river port

   An old trading port on the Brahmaputra, mentioned in the region's most famous Bhawaiya song. Boats and ferries still leave from here for Roumari and the chars, and the riverbank gives wide views of the Brahmaputra.

2. Dharla Bridge and riverfront

   The long road bridge over the Dharla near Kurigram town is a popular place in the evening. In winter the river shrinks into sandbanks, and fishermen in small boats work the shallow channels.

3. Chandamari Mosque

   A small three-domed mosque from the Mughal period in Rajarhat upazila. Its plaster and brick decoration is worth seeing if you travel between Kurigram and Rangpur.

4. Chakir Pashar Beel

   A large wetland in Rajarhat. Migratory birds gather here in winter, and lotus and water lilies cover it after the rains.

5. Sonahat Bridge and land port

   A border trading post in Bhurungamari on the Dudhkumar river, near the frontier with Assam. The old railway-era bridge here is a local landmark.

What Kurigram is famous for

• Buffalo-milk chomchom
• Char-grown peanuts
• Sun-dried red chilli

How to get to Kurigram

Kurigram is roughly 350 km north of Dhaka. Buses from Gabtoli, Kallyanpur and Mohakhali go via the Jamuna Bridge and Rangpur and take about 8–9 hours. The Kurigram Express runs from Kamalapur to Kurigram station in around 10 hours. The nearest airport is Saidpur, from where the drive takes about two and a half hours via Rangpur. Within the district, boats are the only way to reach many chars, and the Chilmari–Roumari river crossing links the two banks of the Brahmaputra.

Markets and haats

Jatrapur haat

A large weekly market in Kurigram Sadar, near where the Dharla meets the Brahmaputra. Char families arrive by boat with maize, peanuts, chilli, jute and livestock to sell.

Chilmari bandar bazar

The market around the river port, busy with rice, dried fish, char produce and goods shipped by boat to and from Roumari.

Kurigram town bazar

The town's main shopping area. Sweet shops here sell buffalo-milk chomchom and curd brought in from the chars.

Kurigram at a glance

Shops from Kurigram on Midmart

No shop from Kurigram is selling on Midmart yet.

Questions about Kurigram

More districts in Rangpur Division

• Dinajpur Terracotta temples, Kataribhog rice and the litchi capital of Bangladesh
• Gaibandha Char country on the Brahmaputra, home of rasmanjari and winter knitwear
• Lalmonirhat Railway town, Teesta Barrage and the Tin Bigha Corridor on the northern border
• Nilphamari Old indigo country, Saidpur's railway workshop and the north's industrial edge
• Panchagarh Bangladesh's northern tip, with flatland tea gardens and Kanchenjunga on the horizon
• Rangpur Capital of the north, home of shataranji rugs, Haribhanga mangoes and Begum Rokeya
• Thakurgaon The wheat basket of Bangladesh, home of Suryapuri mangoes and a giant old mango tree