Lakshmipur

About Lakshmipur

Lakshmipur is a small, roughly triangular district on the eastern bank of the lower Meghna, where the river widens into its estuary. Chandpur lies to the north, Noakhali to the east and south, and Barishal and Bhola face it across the water to the west. Five upazilas make up the district: Lakshmipur Sadar, Raipur, Ramganj, Ramgati and Kamalnagar. The 2022 census counted about 1.94 million people.

Much of the district is young land. The Meghna has been laying down silt here for centuries, and many of today's fields began as chars that were slowly joined to the mainland; in the south-west, around Ramgati and Kamalnagar, new chars still rise while the river eats into others, so erosion is a constant worry. The flat landscape is dense with homestead groves of coconut and betel-nut palms around ponds, giving the villages a distinctly green, shaded look.

History

Lakshmipur was part of the ancient Samatata region and later of the Bhulua kingdom, which was contested between the Bengal sultans, Tripura and Arakan until the Mughals took it in the early seventeenth century. Local tradition remembers the Sufi saint Shah Miran, who is said to have come in the fourteenth century. Under the British the area belonged to Noakhali district; Lakshmipur became a subdivision in 1979 and a district on 15 February 1984.

In 1946 communal riots broke out in Shyampur in Ramganj and spread across greater Noakhali; Mahatma Gandhi spent months walking through the affected villages on a peace mission. The district has produced several public figures, among them language movement activist Mohammad Toaha and A. S. M. Abdur Rab, and the mountaineer Nishat Majumdar, the first Bangladeshi woman to climb Mount Everest, has her roots here.

Economy and livelihoods

Agriculture drives the economy, and Lakshmipur's calling card is soybean: the district is by far the country's largest producer, with the crop grown mostly in Ramgati, Kamalnagar, Raipur and Sadar after the winter rice, and agriculture officials estimate it supplies around three-quarters or more of national output. Coconut and betel nut are the other big cash crops, sent by the truckload to Dhaka, Chattogram and the north. On the Meghna, fishermen land hilsa and other river fish, and buffalo herds graze the coastal chars. Remittances from workers abroad are important to many families.

Food, culture and festivals

The local dialect belongs to the Noakhali family, and food here is rich in coconut and fish. Lakshmipur's best-known specialty is mohisher doi, a thick, tangy curd made from raw buffalo milk on the chars of Ramgati and Kamalnagar and served at weddings and family gatherings. Coconut-based pitha and hilsa dishes are other favourites.

Banglapedia lists palagan, murshidi and sarigan songs, folk tales, rhymes and proverbs among the district's traditions. Dayra Sharif at Shyampur in Ramganj is an important centre of Sufi devotion, drawing visitors for its annual gatherings.

Places to visit in Lakshmipur

1. Tita Khan Jame Masjid

   An old mosque in Lakshmipur town, decorated with colourful broken-china mosaic on its columns and walls, listed as a protected monument.

2. Meghna estuary at Ramgati

   The riverbank at Ramgati and Alexander, where the Meghna is so wide it feels like the sea. Fishing boats, char islands and dramatic monsoon skies make it worth a visit.

3. Dalal Bazar zamindar house and Khoa Sagar

   The remains of a zamindar palace at Dalal Bazar near the district town, with Khoa Sagar, a large old tank, close by.

4. Majuchowdhurir Hat

   A riverside landing on the Meghna west of the town, the crossing point for launches and ferries to Bhola and a lively place to watch hilsa boats come in.

5. Dayra Sharif, Shyampur

   A Sufi shrine and religious complex in Ramganj upazila, one of the best-known spiritual centres in greater Noakhali.

What Lakshmipur is famous for

• Lakshmipur soybean
• Lakshmipur betel nut (supari)
• Coconut
• Buffalo-milk curd (mohisher doi)

How to get to Lakshmipur

Buses run from Dhaka's Sayedabad and Jatrabari terminals to Lakshmipur town, taking roughly five to six hours depending on route and traffic, either via Chandpur or via Cumilla and Noakhali. Lakshmipur has no railway station; the nearest are at Chandpur and Noakhali (Maijdee). From Barishal and Bhola, launches and ferries cross the Meghna to Majuchowdhurir Hat.

Markets and haats

Majuchowdhurir Hat fish landing

Where Meghna fishing boats unload hilsa, pangas and other river fish, and traders buy for markets inland. Busiest in the hilsa season.

Lakshmipur town bazaar

The main market in the district town, a centre for coconut and betel nut wholesale trade, groceries, cloth and fresh produce.

Raipur bazaar

A busy market town in the north of the district, known for its trade in betel nuts, coconuts and seasonal crops.

Lakshmipur at a glance

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Questions about Lakshmipur

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
• Khagrachari Green hills on the Chengi river, Alutila cave and the road to Sajek
• 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