Chittagong

Chittagong (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম, Chaṭṭagrām) is the major sea-port and second largest city of Bangladesh. It is located in the south-eastern portion of the country near Myanmar (Burma). The city was built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, which ends nearby, in the Bay of Bengal. Chittagong has a population of over 3.5 million, and is continuing to grow. One of the cleanest cities of Bangladesh, it has had an ancient reputation of great mystique and beauty.

Mosques and shrines

Chittagong is known as the land of saints, darwishes and fakirs. Several mosques and shrines bear testimony to their presence in the city.

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The most revered place in Chittagong is the Dargah or shrine of Hazrat bayazid bostami, a celebrated saint born in Bostam, Iran in 777 AD. It is a popular belief that he visited Chittagong. Emperor Aurangzeb built a mosque on the bank of a big tank at the foot of the hillock on which the shrine stands. The tank contains several hundred tortoises and it is traditionally believed that the tortoises are the descendants of the evil spirits whose ancestors, having incurred the wrath of the great saint, were metamorphosed into tortoises.

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Hazrat Badar Aulia was a great saint and preacher who is said to have spread Islam in Chittagong. However there is some controversy about the identity of the saint and he is known by different names in different regions of Bangladesh. Some of the names he is known by are Badar Alam, Badar Mokam, Badar Pir and Badar Aulia. According to tradition he drove away evil spirits by burning a lamp (chati) from which the place took the name of Chatigram. The hill on top of which the Chati was lit is called Cheragee Pahad, Hill of the Lamp. This hill is in the Jamal-Khan residential area of the city. The Chittagong City Corporation has recently built a beautiful dome upon this hill. The dargah of Hazrat Badar Aulia is situated at the Badarpati in Baxihat.

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The Dargah Sharif of Hazrat Shah Amanat (Quddus Serrahul Aziz) is one of the most renowned dargahs of Chittagong. It lies to the north of the Central Jail and to the east of Laldighi. Though the exact date of birth of Hazrat Shah Amanat is not known it is believed that he lived in the later part of the 18th and early part of the 19th century. Thousands visit his dargah everyday.

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Beside the above named dargahs there are numerous shrines scattered all over the city. Of these mention may be made of Chashma-i-Hazrat Shaikh Farid whose dargah is at Nasirabad near Solashahar Railway Station and of Hazrat Mollah Miskin situated on the eastern slope of the Madrasah hill on the College Road.

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