Panchagarh

About Panchagarh

Panchagarh sits at the very top of the map, a wedge of land almost surrounded by India's West Bengal, with Thakurgaon and Dinajpur to the south and Nilphamari to the east. Its five upazilas cover about 1,405 square kilometres and held roughly 1.18 million people in the 2022 census, making it one of the least crowded districts in the country. The border runs for close to 290 km, longer than the boundary of most districts.

The landscape feels different from the rest of Bangladesh. Its soil is sandy and stony, washed down from the Himalayan foothills, and the riverbeds of the Mahananda, Karatoya, Dahuk and Talma are full of pebbles and boulders. Winters are the coldest in the country, and fog can settle for days in January. On clear mornings from late October to early December, the snow peaks of Kanchenjunga rise above the horizon at Tetulia, even though the mountain is roughly 140 km away. Over the past twenty-five years tea bushes have spread across fields that once grew only rice and wheat.

History

The name is usually explained as "five forts", after the old strongholds of Bhitargarh, Mirgarh, Rajangarh, Hosaingarh and Devengarh. Another theory links it to the old name Panchanagari. Bhitargarh, north of the town, is a vast walled site with several rings of earthen ramparts and moats, linked in local tradition with a ruler called Prithu Raja. Excavations since the late 2000s have uncovered brick structures that suggest a large early medieval settlement.

Under British rule most of present-day Panchagarh belonged to Jalpaiguri district. In 1947 the Radcliffe Line gave it to East Bengal, where it became part of Dinajpur's Thakurgaon subdivision. It became a subdivision in 1980 and a district on 1 February 1984. The 2015 India–Bangladesh land-boundary agreement exchanged the enclaves along its border.

Economy and livelihoods

Farming is the base: rice, wheat, maize, potatoes and sugarcane, which supplies the Panchagarh sugar mill set up in 1969. The big change has been tea. Commercial tea growing on flat land began around 2000, and Panchagarh now produces close to a fifth of the country's tea. Large estates and thousands of smallholders sell green leaf to local factories, and the country's third tea auction centre opened in the district town in September 2023. Many families also earn a living collecting stone and sand from the riverbeds, and the Banglabandha land port handles trade with India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Food, culture and festivals

Panchagarh shares the Rangpuri dialect and Bhawaiya songs of the north. A large Rajbanshi Hindu community, Santal villages and a small Christian population in Atwari add their own festivals. Winter is the main season for fairs, pithas made from new rice, and visitors who come to see the mountains. The Rocks Museum at the government women's college in the town displays stones, fossil wood and folk objects from the area. It is said to be the first museum of its kind in the country.

Places to visit in Panchagarh

1. Tetulia Dak Bungalow and Mahananda riverbank

   An old rest house on a bluff above the Mahananda, with India just across the river. On clear mornings from October to early December it is the best place in Bangladesh to watch the sun light up Kanchenjunga.

2. Banglabandha zero point

   The northernmost point of Bangladesh and the site of a land port that links the country with India, Nepal and Bhutan. Visitors come for the border milestone, the flag ceremony and the drive through tea country.

3. Bhitargarh

   The remains of a huge ancient fort city about 15 km north of Panchagarh town, with ramparts, moats and the large Maharaja's Dighi tank. Excavated walls and gateways are visible in places.

4. Mirzapur Shahi Mosque, Atwari

   A three-domed Mughal-era mosque from the late seventeenth century, with fine terracotta and plaster decoration on its front.

5. Flatland tea gardens of Tetulia

   Rows of tea bushes shaded by trees line the road from Panchagarh to Tetulia. Some estates welcome visitors to walk the gardens during the plucking season from spring to autumn.

What Panchagarh is famous for

• Panchagarh flatland tea
• Panchagarh green and orthodox tea

How to get to Panchagarh

Panchagarh is about 450 km from Dhaka, one of the longest trips in the country. Buses from Gabtoli, Kallyanpur and Mohakhali take roughly 10–12 hours via the Jamuna Bridge, Rangpur and Thakurgaon. The Panchagarh Express, Drutojan Express and Ekota Express run from Kamalapur to Panchagarh station in about 10–12 hours. Flying to Saidpur takes about an hour, and the road from there to Panchagarh town takes about two and a half hours. Tetulia is another 40 minutes or so further north.

Markets and haats

Panchagarh tea auction centre

Opened in 2023 as the country's third tea auction, after Chattogram and Sreemangal. Brokers bid online for tea made in the northern factories, so growers no longer have to send everything to Chattogram.

Banglabandha land port market

Trucks, warehouses and roadside shops around the border crossing. Stone, fruit and goods from Nepal and Bhutan come through here.

Tetulia bazar

The small upazila market near the Mahananda. Visitors buy local tea, winter shawls and snacks before heading to the Dak Bungalow.

Panchagarh at a glance

Shops from Panchagarh on Midmart

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Questions about Panchagarh

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
• Kurigram Where the Brahmaputra enters Bangladesh, a land of rivers, chars and Bhawaiya
• 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
• 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