BP Photowalk: Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

The River that Sleeps: Paturia, Manikganj, Bangladesh

BP Photowalk: Paturia, Manikganj
02 January 2009

After just coming back from a visit to Tora in Manikganj, I was not convinced that another visit to Manikganj would be boring. Manikganj is a place where there are so many different places to see and so much to find that rather than being a monotonous place, it offers the visitors with a challenge of focusing on something leaving all others. I believe I have a big list of places in Manikganj in my hand, which is far from being finished. So, when Bangladeshi Photographers group in Flickr arranged a photowalk over there, I couldn’t resist myself.

We knew from the start that its going to be a big group, though it was never easy to predict the exact number. There would always be some casualty at the end and some late entries too. The original plan was to go to Shingair in Manikganj. But once we reached Fulbaria Bus Stand, we came to realize, that we had little idea about the exact way to go there. We started to think about alternatives. In the end, we decided to go in the direction of Tora, our destination during our last visit to Manikganj on Christmas Day. It was a Friday, a holiday; so, not surprisingly, the group consisted of no less than 16 members. Hasan Bhai was the only one going with spouse, others not really finding a partner for her.

Anyway, we had a breakfast of some sort at the bus stand and boarded the bus by around 9:00AM. It was a bright sunny day and the scares of heavy fog had fizzled away some days earlier. The BRTC bus sped west through the highway; our biggish group getting a lot of attention within the vehicle. The right side of the highway contained more brick-fields than anything else. Halfway throughout our journey, we decided to go for Paturia instead of Tora. Tora is no doubt a great place, but its suitable for a smaller group of visitors. Getting vehicles for Dhaka on the way out would be a real pain if the group is much bigger than 7/8 people. Last time, our 8-man group had faced trouble; this time the number was double. Paturia was the decision, but there was a slight problem; the bus was going to Aricha, which is several kilometers from Paturia. We got off the bus some distance from the intersection, where the road divides in two. We got some sort of a small covered truck, which took us to Paturia by around 11:20AM.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Atypical vastness.........01...... Rumi Bhai crossing the vast sands of the Padma.......

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Atypical vastness.........02

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Painting the landscape.......

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A walk at land's end............ this is usually the edge of the Padma....

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Virgin landscape?

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

They'll grow together..........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

On water's edge.........01

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

On water's edge.........02

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Nature's patterns.......

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Designing a landscape.........


We stopped short of the Paturia Ferryghat and turned towards the mighty Padma on foot. The vastness of the dried riverbed was an awe-inspiring sight. All we could see was sand. The Padma almost lost all her tears; she was calm, but sad. Its hard to believe that this same river devours the surroundings like a giant. I saw the massive surf of the Padma during the rainy season on my way back from Kuakata in July 2007. That was this same Patura. Its really hard to believe! We walked straight through the vast dusty plain that’s usually called the Padma. Green paddy fields were trying to put some decoration to this rather dull scene. It was winter; yet, the sun was shining with all its strength. Under the sun were farmers going on with their usual daily work. Some were engaged with tilling the land; while others were sowing paddy right on the edge of water. There were various crops on the sandy plain. Mechanical tilling was going on, creating interesting patterns on the ground. Though we were on the same plane, we could still feel the patterns that would give an unforgettable sight from a higher place.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A crowded water-scape..........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A line of giants waiting at Paturia Ferry-ghat........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Not that close!!

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Boats of various sizes cluttered the face of the Padma........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Green and blue.......

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Dreamscape..........01


Sandy plain gave way to soft mud at the edge of the water. Our feet began to dig right in. We stopped short of feeling the water temperature. It’s a ferry ghat at Paturia. So, obviously the waterscape contained a good number of boats of all kinds. They were all slowly crossing the shiny waters of the Padma. This place is actually the meeting place of the Padma and the Jamuna rivers. That exact meeting place forms a foamy divider in the water with water of two colours on two sides of that divider. We were obviously unable to see that line from the place where we were. But from the direction of the sun, we could imagine that the river was Padma, rather than Jamuna.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

An orange dot on a barren land....... Common Hoopoe

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A bit too cold for the plunge may be........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Graceful in flight........


This was one heck of an empty space. Apart from the farmers working here and there, there was the avifauna. Bangladesh is a place where we continue to get puzzled at the fact that there are so many birds living so close to people. I got my closest look to Common Hoopoe since I came back from my visit to the Sundarbans in late October 2008. Common resident birds were also there filling up the vast empty skies.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Pipe-dreams??

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Prepare to plunge!!

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Coming back home........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A maze of colours.........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

That little red spot in the fields of gold.......01....... Biju Bhai making a model out of himself.....

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

That little red spot in the fields of gold.......02

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Contrast of colours.........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A rural view........01

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A rural view........02


We decided to break off from the river by around 1:30PM and headed for Paturia proper. We had our lunch at a typical low-price street restaurant and loved it! We were hungry and thirsty as well. That food gave us the energy to think ahead. We moved once more by around 2:15PM. This time, the target place was a bit different. Paturia had a very nice rural setting not too far from the ferry-ghat. We took several rickshaws and began to go deep, until we were able to see the golden mustard fields. We dropped from the rickshaws and our eyes were fixed on the vast fields of yellow. The colours were inconsistent, as the crops were sown in different times of the year due to some untimely rain. Yet, the colours were blinding.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A tree-full of birds........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A common resident.........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Home and guardian........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Escaping from the maze........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Holudia Pakhi....... Black-hooded Oriole......

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A sad face.........


After spending some time with children at the fields, by around 3:00PM we began to go even deeper into rural Paturia. We invaded the nearest village and looked for their original way of life. This is where the real Bangladesh lies; so simple, yet so unique, and beautiful. Various birds were adding background noise to the usual quiet village life. Cool shadows from numerous trees made the place homely. Some of us had date juice and rejoiced. I rather decided to keep a more quiet profile while they were drinking.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

White-breasted Kingfisher........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

A typical rural setting.........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Smiles all around........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Flame at work.......

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Some mother's concern.......

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Stagnant; permanent and temporary.........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Weighing the forest........


We somehow became divided in groups by around 4:00PM. And we began to move through the winding rural passages. There was a nice canal on one part of the village, which had fishing nets throughout its length, giving that nice unique landscape feel that we are so familiar with. Kingfishers were decorating these nets with their colourful feathers.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Green reflections..........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Colourful reflections........

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

You're not dancing, are you?

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Puppet story...........01

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Puppet story...........02


We moved on until we could catch up with the rest of the group. On the way, we could see more life in rural setting. Children in playing mood, housewives going through their daily work, iron smith battering away at the glowing metal, village market going through a usual holiday (it was a Friday). We rendezvoused at a small bridge across that canal by around 4:30PM. There were some small boats under the bridge which attracted instant attention of some of our friends. I spent some time under the bridge at the mostly dried-out canal bed, watching people going through the road. We stayed there until around 4:45PM and then moved towards Paturia Ghat.

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Last lights...........01

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Last lights...........02

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Last lights...........03

From Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009

Watching the sun go down..........


It was time to go back. But there was one little thing missing. The sunset. A red ball was about to go under the horizon, blazing the waters of the Padma. Just at that moment, by around 5:10PM, we got the unfortunate news that one of our friends Neaz Bhai was hurt in a freakish accident. His foot got bruised somewhat b a backing-up bus in a tight place in the bazaar. We rushes there and decided to call it a day. His injury wasn’t too serious though. But he had to apply ice-therapy as long as he could.

Finding the first bus from Paturia wasn’t too easy though, with a big line of people waiting to invade the earliest vehicle. We at least, were able to board a BRTC bus for Dhaka by around 6:30PM. The rest of the journey wasn’t too extraordinary except the massive nasal whistle of Rony Bhai! Anyway, that gave the rather boring journey some spice.

We reached Dhaka by around 8:30PM. End of a long day. Poor Neaz Bhai had a bad end to the day. But that incident wasn’t able to distract from the fact that it was a great tour. We had a lot of diversity in out sightseeing and clicking. We saw the vast expanses of an empty river; we saw people rushing from motor launches; we enjoyed the beautiful colours of the mustard fields; quiet village life; rural landscape; and in the end, a great sunset. It was a tour to be satisfied with.


Note: This blog contains some of the images from the tour. For more photos, please visit the whole gallery at:
Paturia, Manikganj, January 2009