Patuakhali is a district under Barisal division in south-western part of Bangladesh. The lands of the district are composed of alluvial soil of the Meghna basin and a number of char lands. The main and majestic tourist attraction in Patuakhali is the historical Kuakata beach. The southern district is bounded by Barisal on the north, Bay of Bengal on the south, Bhola on the east and Barguna on the west. Kuakata, the second largest tourist centre of the country, is called "The Daughter of the Sea". One can watch both the sunrise and sunset from the beach. Natural catastrophes like cyclones, floods and tornadoes are the most common phenomena that hit the region almost every year as it is situated in the vulnerable coastal belt. The most important and exciting travel destinations here, among others, are Buddhist Temple, Mog and Chakma tribal villages etc on which we will be focusing below.
At the historical sanatorium of Kuakata, there is an excellent blend of the picturesque, eternal and perpetual natural beauty, white sandy beach, and blue sky, huge expanse of the Bay water and evergreen trees and forest site which are eye-catching and which touch the hearts of the visitors. From its long natural unbreakable seashore a tourist can easily watch both the rare panoramic view and beauty of the sunrise and sunset. The coconut trees and adjacent bushes upsurge the scenic beauty of this uncommon majestic seashore. Kuakata, locally well celebrated as "Sagar Kanya"(virgin daughter of the Sea) is a rare scenic beauty spot on the southernmost tip of Bangladesh. Kuakata is situated in Latachapli union under Kalapara Police Station of Patuakhali district. It is not big in dimension. It is about 30 km in length and 6 km in breadth. The tourist resort of Kuakata is famed for its spectacular beach located about 75 km southward from the coastal district headquarters of Patuakhali, and about 330 km from the capital city of Dhaka. With the unending expanse of natural beauty - unique in immense tourist potential - the real worth and the eternal hidden beauty of Kuakata is still unexplored.
With the perpetual majestic view of the Bay of Bengal on one side and the well-set columns of natural charming coconut groves and forest on the other, Kuakata is really an earthly paradise for tourists. With the vast evergreen charming leaves of coconut trees always dancing in uninterrupted cool breeze blowing from the sea and scores of fishing trawlers anchored, Kuakata is of inexpressible beauty and it is not an easy task to draw an exact pen picture of it.
Kuakata is truly a virgin beach - a sanctuary for migratory winter birds, wild animals, a series of trees mostly betel nut and coconut, dry sandy beach, the blue Bay, a unique feast for the eye besides historical memorials. Evergreen forest, multi-designed trawlers, fishing boats plying all over the Bay of Bengal with various extents of colourful sails, towering cliffs, surfing silver waves everything here touches the tourists' emotion. The exclusive traditional customs and costumes of the 'Rakhine' tribal families who are hardworking and active and the artistic Buddhist Temple of about a hundred years old specify the ancient inheritance and multi-cultural heritage, which are really objects of wonder and pleasure. Kuakata is indeed the abode of pilgrimage of the Hindus and mainly of the Buddhist communities. Innumerable devotees arrive from far and near places to visit the spot during the traditional festival of 'Rush Purnima' and 'Maghi Purnima' to show their sacred religious zeal to their beliefs.
On the occasion of these two festivals they take holy bath here and attend colourful traditional fairs that are held simultaneously to mark the occasion. All these activities and additional offers add to panoramic beauty and make the beach more befitting, gorgeous and enjoyable to the visitors. One willing to realise the lovely grace of Bangladesh may please visit Kuakata to discover its real majestic view.
Modes and means of communication: The painful experience of a sojourner to Kuakata is transportation. There exists partially smooth road communication between Dhaka and Patuakhali district headquarters with disruption of frequent uneven potholes over the long but not so much broad route, normally accessible by road, water or air transport up to Barisal city. Then the willing traveller may choose journey by road or water to Kuakata or Patuakhali. From Dhaka one can move directly to Patuakhali by bus and from there by microbus to Kuakata. It is however advisable to travel up to Patuakhali directly by water [launch], which is an overnight pleasant journey if it is in luxury cabin, and one can enjoy the unique view of Bangladesh rivers at nighttime during this smooth water journey. Instead of Patuakhali you can go to Khepupara by launch, which is also an overnight journey and from Khepupara you can go to Kuakata by microbus. A direct BRTC bus service is also available from Dhaka to Kuakata that leaves from Sayedabad bus terminal at night which takes 12 hours to reach Kuakata if service is nonstop. But it might be a hectic bus journey as there are two ferries one of which is over the mighty river Lebukhali on the long way to Kuakata by road.
The best season for making tour is the winter but all over the year tourists visit this place. In Kuakata tourists can visit the lifestyle of tribal people 'Rakhines', who are very friendly to the tourists and visitors but often conservative in their propensity. Various handicrafts made by this tribal people are also sold here. Misripara and Keranipara are nearest Rakhine villages from the Kuakata beach. Travellers may visit the 100 years old Buddhist temple at Keranipara named as Seema Mandir. Seema Mandir is made of eight different metals. All these villages are the exclusive areas where this tribal people reside.
Tourists can visit Buddhist Temple about four km off from Kuakata, where the statue of Gautam Buddha [biggest in South Asia] and two wells dating 200 years back exist. There's an interesting popular tale behind the name of the place. Local name of the well is 'Kua' and 'Kata' is a local name of digging a well; thus the name of Kuakata was evolved. Fishermen's village is another place where you can visit and watch the poverty-stricken but contented and ever struggling lifestyle of the fishermen.
If you are adventure-minded you may also go for fishing on the fishing boat if you can manage the local fishermen. That will give you an extra pleasure and thrilling experience, which you won't be able to gather from anywhere else. In the fishermen's village you will find the fishermen coming back from the fishing and you can purchase some fresh Hilsa and other sea fishes from them and by the side of village there are some local restaurants from where you can instantly get the taste and flavours of fresh cooked Hilsa and other sea fishes ready for serving to interested tourists. You will ever remember the wonderful taste of the fresh Hilsas of Kuakata all through your life. You can also collect quality dried sea fishes free of preservatives from the fishermen. From Kuakata there is a scope to visit [one hour speedboat journey] a fragment of the great Sundarbans mangrove forest, which is called Gangamoti Reserve Forest. Kuakata was once part of the Sundarbans forest when the Rakhine community settled in that area in 1784, after being thrown out of Arakan in Myanmar by the Mughals. Basically, the Gangamati Reserved Forest is the additional part of the Sundarbans forest in Bangladesh. Gangamoti Reserved Forest protects the coast of Kuakata against tidal surges. The Gangamati Reserved Forest provides an opportunity to view a small mangrove forest. There are many types of trees and plants in this forest like keora, gewa, baen, kankra, goran, hetal, golpata and a number of wild animals like wild boar, deer, monkey and different species of birds are found in this forest.
Gangamotir Lake is another spot for tourists' enjoyment. Fatrar's Char is also another enchanting tourist place nearby Kuakata which is almost difficult to avoid during the tour.
The most striking feature of the tourist spot at Kuakata is both of its 'sunrise' and 'sunset' that can be viewed from this place. No other place in Bangladesh can boast of such a rare panoramic scene. Kuakata is one of the rarest places, which has the unique beauty of witnessing the full view of the rising and setting of crimson sun in the golden water of the Bay of Bengal in a serene environment of eternal solitude. That perhaps makes Kuakata one of the world's unique beaches. The long and wide beach at Kuakata has a typical natural setting. This sandy beach has gentle slopes into the Bay of Bengal and bathing there is almost safe and pleasant as is rambling or diving in sea shore.
Jhaubon is a very beautiful place at Kuakata and is close to the beach. It has been planted by the forest department for beautification as well as to protect against the soil erosion. Tourists or travellers can go there on foot.
Jhaubon is surrounded by both Jhau trees and coconut trees. This place is also convenient for better viewing the sunrise scenery at Kuakata.
There is a nice Eco Park at Jhaubon area of Kuakata. This Eco Park is an excellent spot for picnic or excursion. It is located about 2.5 km east of the zero point of Kuakata. The area of the Eco Park is about 13,984 hectares. Coastal Forest Department in Patuakhali has built the Eco Park.
The Eco Park is situated in the areas comprising Gangamati, Latachapli, Khajura, Fatrar Char and Tengragiri on Kuakata beach. The Eco Park is surrounded by mangrove and non-mangrove forests.
There are many types of trees and plants in this park as it is the safe haven of birds with over 42,000 plants besides, two existing watch towers, five picnic sheds, a wooden bridge, culverts, internal walkways.
Shutkipalli is another place at Kuakata which tourists can visit. It is located 4.0 km west from Kuakata beach. On the way to Lebur bon/Lebur char one can visit the shutkipalli. From that place one can get the experience of how to make dry fish (shutki). He/she can see the full process of making dry fish.
Lebur char, located 5.0 km east of Kuakata beach and comprising about 1,000 acres of land, is locally also known as Lembur char or 'Nembur char'.
There are many types of trees and plants in this char like Keura, Geowa, Goran, Koroi, Golpata etc. Lebur char is a part of the Sundarbans but now it is detached from the Sundarbans and is situated in the east corner of Kuakata which is easily accessible to travellers.
Narikel Bagan (Coconut Garden) is at a walking distance and situated on the eastern side of the beach which is a nice place to visit for Kuakata travellers. Â
According to the local people this coconut garden is more than 40 years old covering a large area which is now on the verge of destruction and warrants protective action from all concerned.
Another lovable place is the "Kakra Beach" (Crab Beach) which is very clean and beautiful. The specialty of the place is that thousands of small crabs are found running all over the beach.
Because of the high importance as a sanatorium and top destination for the tourists from home and abroad Kuakata by this time has been considerably able to attract the keen attention from all concerned towards its overall development and expansion. As regards infrastructure development, so far a good number of hotels, rest houses, and holiday homes have been constructed in the beach area at private and government initiatives to cater to the need of thousands of visitors both domestic and foreign. Besides, having arrangements for middle income people with low priced accommodation, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation has constructed a luxury holiday home for better and comfortable living of the tourists. Currently Kuakata has got a new life with both public and private investments in various sectors including its massive development and extension.
We are optimistic that the authority concerned would take up a master plan for the place, which bears enormous potential for the development of our tourism sector as well as our national economy. Happy and enthusiastic, let us look forward to the prosperity of the Kuakata beach which stands as nature's gift of its eternal beauty, so much to see and so much to be pleased, although most of its potential and real worth is still unexplored.
K M Ahasanul Huque is a freelance writer, professionally engaged in telecom services. Email: kahasanul@gmail.com
Kuakata: The eternal source of scenic beauty
K M Ahasanul Huque | Published: May 07, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
Share if you like