Naogaon

About Naogaon

Naogaon is the largest district in Rajshahi Division by area. It covers more than 3,400 sq km, from the Indian border in the north-west down to the edge of Chalan Beel in the south-east. Most of it lies on the Barind tract, an old, slightly raised plain of hard red clay where the land is less flood-prone than the river valleys around it. The Atrai, Little Jamuna, Punarbhaba and Nagar rivers cross the district, and wetlands around Atrai and Raninagar fill with water in the monsoon.

The name is usually explained as "new village" (nao + gaon), and for a long time it was simply a market town of the old Rajshahi district. Today Naogaon is one of the most important grain districts in the country. It is a leading producer of rice and has more rice mills than any other district. In the last twenty years the high Barind fields of Sapahar, Porsha and Niamatpur have also been planted with mango orchards. Naogaon now ranks among the top mango-producing districts too.

History

The district holds some of the most important early medieval sites in Bengal. Around the late eighth century the Pala king Dharmapala built the vast Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur, for centuries one of the largest Buddhist monasteries south of the Himalayas. At Dibar Dighi in Patnitala a tall stone pillar stands in a tank, linked with the eleventh-century Kaivarta revolt led by Divyak against the Palas. The Kusumba Mosque in Manda dates from 1558–59, under the Afghan rulers of Bengal.

Under the British, Naogaon became famous for something unexpected: it was the licensed centre of ganja (cannabis) cultivation. From 1917 the Naogaon Ganja Cultivators' Co-operative Society held a monopoly on the crop and spent its profits on schools, hospitals and roads in the town until cultivation was banned in the 1980s. Rabindranath Tagore managed his family's Kaligram estate from the kacharibari at Patisar on the Nagar river. Naogaon became a district in 1984.

Economy and livelihoods

Farming supports around three-quarters of households. Aman and Boro rice dominate the lowlands, and hundreds of automatic and husking mills around the district town turn the paddy into rice for the rest of the country. Since the Amrapali variety arrived around 1999, mango orchards have spread quickly across Sapahar, Porsha and Niamatpur, and Sapahar's mango market is now one of the busiest in Bangladesh. Some Amrapali mangoes from Sapahar have even been shipped to the United States. Wheat, potato, vegetables and pond fish fill out the farm economy.

Food, culture and festivals

Naogaon's best-known sweet is Pera sandesh: dry, brown and fudge-like, made from reduced milk and sugar and sold around the Kalitola temple area of the town. Because it keeps for about a week, it is a favourite gift to carry home. Santal, Oraon and other indigenous communities live in the Barind villages, and Hindu festivals such as Charak Puja are celebrated alongside Pohela Boishakh, Nabanna and the traders' Halkhata. People speak the northern Varendri style of Bangla.

Places to visit in Naogaon

1. Paharpur — Somapura Mahavihara

   A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Badalgachhi upazila. The ruins of a huge square Buddhist monastery surround a terraced central shrine decorated with terracotta plaques. A small site museum displays finds from the excavation.

2. Kusumba Mosque

   A six-domed mosque from 1558–59, faced in dark stone, beside a large tank in Manda upazila. It appears on the five-taka note and is one of the finest surviving Sultanate-period buildings in the north.

3. Patisar Rabindra Kachharibari

   Tagore's estate office at Atrai, on the Nagar river. The poet stayed here, wrote here and set up a farmers' cooperative bank. It is now a museum with his personal items and photographs.

4. Dibar Dighi

   A large tank in Patnitala upazila with a single carved granite pillar rising from the water, associated with the Kaivarta chief Divyak. It is a peaceful spot with plenty of local folklore.

5. Alta Dighi National Park

   A long, ancient tank in Dhamoirhat near the border, surrounded by sal forest. It is the district's main nature spot and draws migratory birds in winter.

6. Halud Vihara and Jagaddala Mahavihara

   Two smaller excavated Buddhist monastery sites in Badalgachhi and Dhamoirhat, for visitors who want more of Naogaon's Pala-era heritage after Paharpur.

What Naogaon is famous for

• Naogaon rice
• Amrapali mango
• Naogaon Pera sandesh

How to get to Naogaon

Naogaon is roughly 250 km from Dhaka. Buses from Gabtoli and Mohakhali take about 5–6 hours via the Jamuna Bridge and Bogura. By rail, the main gateway is Santahar Junction in neighbouring Bogura, about 15 km away, where many Dhaka trains to Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Panchagarh stop. From there buses and CNG auto-rickshaws run to Naogaon town. Paharpur is closest to Jamalganj station. The nearest airport is Rajshahi.

Markets and haats

Sapahar mango market

From June to August the roads around Sapahar's Charmatha fill with vans and trucks loading crates of Amrapali, Langra and other mangoes for buyers across the country.

Naogaon rice mill belt

The mills and wholesale rice traders around the district town supply fine and coarse rice to Dhaka and beyond. They are the place to buy direct in bulk.

Kalitola sweet shops

The cluster of small shops near the Kalitola temple gate where Naogaon's Pera sandesh is traditionally made and sold.

Naogaon at a glance

Shops from Naogaon on Midmart

No shop from Naogaon is selling on Midmart yet.

Questions about Naogaon

More districts in Rajshahi Division

• Bogura Ancient Pundranagar, sweet curd and the gateway to North Bengal
• Joypurhat Potatoes, arum stolons and the country's biggest sugar mill
• Natore Rani Bhabani's palaces, Chalan Beel and the sweet kacha golla
• Chapainawabganj Mango orchards, Gaur's sultanate mosques and the songs of gombhira
• Pabna Onions, litchis and ghee between the Padma and the Jamuna
• Rajshahi Silk City on the Padma, famous for mangoes, temples and learning
• Sirajganj Handlooms, milk and the bridges over the Jamuna