Ghuri Utshob (Kite Festival)

Bangladesh possesses an ancient socio-cultural heritage. Culture in Bangladesh is a unique blend of traditional values, customs and external influences. Bangladeshi daily life is full up with traditions and festivals that reflect the unique culture and tradition of Bangladeshis. Some of the tradition and customs are as ancient as prehistoric days, while others are relatively recent. Kite Festival is one of the popular traditions of Bangladesh. Here it is called shakrain/ Ghuri Utshob.

Tourist Spot of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a part of southeast Asia and stands besides India. There are 6 divisions and 64 districts in Bangladesh. The major toursit spots of Bangladesh are Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Bogra, Cox's Bazar, khulna, Comilla, Barisal and Sylhet.

Bangladesh offers ample tourist attraction. The facilities for the tourists have also greatly improved compared to even a few years ago. Some of the known tourist attractions are "Srimangal"(called as the Tea capital of bangladesh) Sat Gombuj Masjid(60 tombed mosque) of Khulna, Beautifully located in the hilltracts of Chittagong is the Hanging Bridge of Rangamati, Memorial Monument situated in Savar under Dhaka district, Moynamoti pahar of Comilla and there are the two favourite places for the tourists one of them is the worlds longest beach at Cox's Bazar and the other is full of scenic beauty the forest of Sundarban.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation(state owned tourism company or BPC) has information centres in Dhaka, Chittagong, Bogra, Rajshahi, Cox's Bazar, Rangamati and Sylhet.
Five Package Tours ranging from four to five days are arranged by BPC.

Shopping in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is indeed a shoppers' paradise with a rich tradition in handicrafts at throw away prices. While muslin of ancient Dhaka has gone into history, other products such as contemporary paintings, wood works, shital pati (mattress having cooling effect), bamboo decoration pieces, cane and conch shell products, gold and silver ornament, cotton, silk, gold, silver, jute, reed, brassware, traditional dolls and leather goods also receive deep appreciation of the lovers of arts and crafts now and over the past centuries. In addition, Bangladesh is famous for pink pearl.

Pink Pearl : Pink pearls are the best buy in Dhaka. These natural products are unparallel in luster.

Gold & Silver : A wide range of gold and silver ornaments, silver filigree work etc. are considered by many travelers to be unparalleled.

Brass & Copperware : Among the best buys here are brass and copperware trays, wall decorations, vases etc. all are hand made with fine engravings and filigree work. Products made from the hides and skins of animals and reptiles, intricate wood carvings, cane and bamboo products, conch shell, bangles, embroidered quilts, jamdani and silk fabrics can also be bought. These are available in DIT market and a number of exclusive shop in New Elephant Road, Dhaka.

Duty- free Shopping: Duty free sales and display centers run by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (NTO) are located in Dhaka, Zia International Airport, Mohakhaii and Sylhet Airport.
These shops enjoy the reputation of being well established with a wide range of goods at unbeatable prices. Goods available include wines and spirits, perfumes, cigarettes, hi-fi stereo and audio-visual equipment, Cameras, Watches and a range of household appliances. All purchases must be paid for in foreign currency.

Flora & Fauna

Abundance of Bangladesh's bird life makes it an ornithologist's paradise. Of the 525 recorded species, 350 are resident. Among them are bulbul, magpie, robin, common game birds, cuckoos, hawks, owls, crows, kingfishers, woodpeckers, parrots and myna. A wide variety of warblers are also found. Some of them are migrants and appear only in winter. The migratory and seasonal birds are pre-dominantly ducks. Of the 200 species of mammals, the pride of place goes to the Royal Bengal Tiger of the Sunderbans, the largest block of littoral forests spreading over an area of 6,000 sq. km. Next comes the elephants found mainly in the forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts districts. South Himalayan black bear and the Malayan bear are also seen here. Six types of deer are found in the hill tracts and the Sunderbans. Of them the spotted deer, barking deer and sambar are the most familiar. Clouded leopard, leopard cat, mongoose, jackal and rhesus monkey are also found. Among the bovine animals, three species- buffalo, ox and gayal- are found. There are about 150 species of reptiles of which the sea turtle, river tortoise, mud turtle, crocodiles, gavial, python, krait and cobra and common. About 200 species of marine and freshwater fish are also found. Prawns and lobsters are available in plenty for local consumption and export. In the shallow water of the floodplains, ponds and swamps of the country various hydrophytes and floating ferns grow in abundance. Tall grasses present a picturesque site near the banks of the rivers and the marshes. Around 60% of the Gangetic plain is under rice paddy and jute cultivation. The village homes are usually concealed by the lush green foliage of a wide variety of trees, thickets of bamboo and banana plants. A characteristic feature of the landscape is the presence of a variety of palm and fruit trees. Each season produces its special variety of flowers in Bangladesh; among them, the prolific Water Hyacinth flourishes. Its carpet of thick green leaves and blue flowers gives the impression that solid ground lies underneath. Other decorative plants, which are widely spread are Jasmine, Water Lily, Rose, Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Magnolia, and an incredible diversity of wild orchids in the forested areas. Lying close to the Himalayas, the Sylhet area has extensive natural depressed lands locally called 'haors' (pronounced 'howers', wetlands). During the winter season they are home to huge flocks of wild fowl. Outstanding species include the rare Baer's pochard and Pallas' Fish Eagle, along with a great number of ducks . Other important habitats are the remaining fragments of evergreen and teak forests, especially along the Indian border near the Srimongal area. The Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Redheaded Trogon and a wide variety of forest birds, including rare visitors are seen in these forests. One of two important coastal zones is the Noakhali region, with emphasis on the islands near Hatiya, where migratory species and a variety of wintering waders find suitable refuge. These include rare viitors like Spoonbilled Sandpiper, Nordman's Greenshank and flocks of Indian Skimmers. The forest cover of Bangladesh is only about 9 percent. The thickest forests are in the coastal Sunderbans and the hill tracts in the northeast. Extensive areas of Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Kushtia are under mango, litchi, sugarcane and tobacco cultivation.

Bangladesh to build replica Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal (Bangladesh) is a life size replica of the original Taj Mahal located 18 miles northeast of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. Unlike the original the building work took only 5 years and cost its wealthy owner USD 58 million. Ahsanullah Moni, a wealthy Bangladeshi film-maker, has told how he built a replica of the Taj Mahal so that the poor of his nation can realise their dream of seeing neighbouring India’s famed monument.

Bangladesh makes little money out of international tourism, with just 0.1 percent of visitors to the Asia-Pacific region stopping off there, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

Moni first visited the original Taj in 1980 and made the trip six more times as he followed his dream to replicate it.

He hired specialist architects, sending them to India to measure the dimensions of the real Taj Mahal, and brought six Indian technicians to his building site across the border.

Work finally began in 2003 and will be completed this month, when the new Taj throws open its doors to the public.

Moni imported marble and granite from Italy, diamonds from Belgium and used 160 kilogrammes (353 pounds) of bronze for the dome.

Cox’s Bazar swings back to second wonder

The world’s longest unbroken beach Cox’s Bazar was yesterday promoted to the second position in the race for the new seven wonders of nature.

Earlier, Cox’s Bazar ranked third in “Group G” of a total of seven categories under the New7Wonders Foundation.

The overwhelming support of the citizens of the country, including expatriates, helped Cox’s Bazar and the Sundarbans hold on to the top, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation said in a statement yesterday.

The Sundarbans ranked third in “Group E” for forests, natural parks and reserves, according to the website for the New7Wonders Foundation.

Master plan soon to boost tourism

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Qader yesterday said a master plan would be undertaken for boosting the tourism sector and making it attractive.

To this end, a time-befitting tourism policy is being formulated, he said while presiding over a meeting on tourism policy at his ministry here.

“There is immense potential for tourism in Bangladesh, and tourist spots will be developed by identifying those to attract local and foreign tourists,” the minister said.

Shafique Alam Mehdi, chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Sardar Abul Kalam, joint secretary of the ministry, and other high officials were present.

Swiss hotel brand eyes Bangladesh market

The Golden Tulip Hospitality Group expressed its keen interest in bringing in the Golden Tulip brand to Bangladesh with the objective to become a major contributor to country’s hospitality, business and tourism sectors.

Duco E de Vries, business development director of MENA region of the group, said it at a press release on Friday.

‘Introduction of Tulip to Bangladesh will open opportunity to expand business and tourism in this country as well as the opportunities for new different hotel jobs,’ he said.

‘Tulip has a lot on offer. Our success will be a result of the perfect combination of exciting brands, a dedicated professional team, and target markets with great potential for growth,’ he added.

Golden Tulip, the hotel brand of Switzerland based worldwide hospitality company with more than 780 hotels and 75,000 rooms in more than 50 countries, was ranked 18th largest hotel chain around the world by Hotels Magazine in 2006.

As a multi-brand hospitality firm, the Golden Tulip Hospitality Group also offers services in categories with different standards like Tulip Inns, Tulip Residence, Golden Tulip, and Royal Tulip with luxurious and high standard living facilities.

In addition, Golden Tulip offers its services through its commercial alliance with TOP International, a German based hotel consortium.

Barisal divisional museum project shelved for fund crunch

The Barisal divisional museum project has been shelved for about two years due to fund constraint.
Sources in archaeology department said the authorities concerned had undertaken a Tk 2.43 crore project to renovate the century-old Barisal Colletorate Building, which was turned into a museum.
Former state minister for cultural affairs Selima Rahman inaugurated the project on April 8, 2005.
Central Engineers and Construction Company Ltd got the work order. Renovation work began in July 2005 and it was scheduled to be completed in June 2007.
The sources said as the deadline for the completion of the project expired in June 2007, unused fund amounting to about Tk 43 lakh was sent back to the cultural affairs ministry and the construction work came to a halt.
Barisal Collectorate Building was declared abandoned after the new district administration complex was built on the compound of the deputy commissioner’s office in 1980s.
The government on April 1, 2004 issued a gazette notification declaring the Barisal Collectorate Building as national heritage and asked the district administration and public works department to hand over the building to the department of archaeology.
Shihab Uddin, project officer of Barisal Divisional Museum Project, said the construction work of display galleries and boundary walls under the project have been completed.
He said they made a list of antiques to put them on display. The authorities concerned have yet to approve an organogram of 38 staff including deputy director and assistant deputy director, he added.

Dhaka City Beautification

City Beautification

For Beautifying the city DCC has developed many water fountain sculptures and garden in different important sites of the city. Every year, DCC allocates more then one crore Taka for the city beautification programme. The Nagar Bhabon and other important places are decorated and lighted on different special and national days of the country.

Dhanmondi Lake Development

Dhanmondi Lake is a prestigious project corporation. Dhanmondi Lake development project was undertaken to provide a place of recreation for the urban community of Dhaka City. This was a part of a long demand of the urban dwellers for their physical as well as mental nourishment. This park stretches with an area of 85.60 acres out of which almost 31 acres of land area and the rest is 54.6 acres water body. This park has also a vision to restore the environmental quality enhancement of public facilities. For operation and maintenance purposes. The whole area is proposed to be eight different sectors and which consists different facilities.

Park

Parks and playground in the city are notoriously few and far between. Needless to says that open public places for relaxation. Recreation and sports play a vital role in any scheme for a rational town planning and are deemed highly desirable from the point of view of the citizens physical well being. The need for having open places assumes greater important in the context of the fact that an immense bulk of the city's populace dwell in sultry hovels where sun and air rarely access. DCC has 42 developed parks; those are situated in different parts of the city. The important parks are as follows:

Name of DCC Parks

1. Banani Children Park, Block- D 2. Banani Children Park, Block- C 3. Banani Children Park, Block- G 4. Banani Children Park, Block- F 5. Banani Lake Park 6. Kamal Ataturk Park 7. Baridhra Park 8. Baridhara Nursery Park 9. Gulshan Tank Park 10. Gulshan Central Park 11. Gulshan Taltola Park 12. Gulshan Chowrasta Park 13. Bahadurshah Park 14. Saydabad Children Park 15. Samibag Children Park 16. Gulistan Children Park 17. Sirajudullah Park 18. Jagonnath Shah Road Park 19. Hazaribagh Park 20. Nowabgonj Park 21. Shamoli Park

22. Shahid Sakil Park 23. Shiya Masjid Park 24. Mohammadpur Iqbal Road Park 25. Shamoli Children Park 26. Kawran Bazar Park 27. Farm Gate Triangle Park 28. Panthokunja Park 29. Kalabagan Lake Circus Park 30. Majed Sarder Park 31. Malitola Park 32. Bongshal Triangle Park 33. Pallobi Vhildren Park 34. Udbid Uddan 35. Narinda Children Park 36. Bosiruddin Darder Park 37. Khilgaon Children Park 38. Outfall Staff Quarter Children Park 39. No l Circular Park 40. Motijheel Park 41. Gulshan Wonder Land Children Park 42. Usmani Uddan

My City-Dhaka and the Lake

This is gulshan lake. One of the beautiful lake of Dhaka city. This is a good place for walking jogging. I think if any one do not see it yet, see it as soon as possible. Visit my country and enjoy the beauty of my country.

Dhanmondi Lake should be saved

There is a lake in Dhaka called the Dhanmondi Lake. It was a very beautiful lake once. But its beauty has been ruined by people throwing garbage in the river, and by many other ways. These things are creating pollution and so the fish are also dying. We need to save this lake. We have to stop people from throwing rubbish in the lake. If we save this lake, then it will be good for many people because in this area there is no other lake like this. Then we can also ride on boats. If this lake is not saved, then it will create many problems.

My City-Dhaka and the Lake

Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
I think you gusy will miss this. who will miss please come to visit Bangladesh. You’re welcome.

Again me and my friends in Cox Bazar

Me with my friends in Cox Bazar

Fashion & Jewelry >> Boutique

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