Chattogram
A hilltop shrine, known for the rare turtles that live in its pond.
The shrine is a centre of popular Sufi devotion. People of many backgrounds come to offer prayers, light candles and incense, tie threads and make vows, and the turtles are treated with reverence as part of the shrine. On the saint’s annual urs and on holy nights the hill fills with pilgrims. Visitors are welcome, as long as they are respectful.
On a small hill in Nasirabad, in the north of Chattogram city, stands the shrine (mazar) dedicated to Bayazid Bostami, the famous ninth-century Sufi saint from Bastam in Persia. Historians doubt that he ever came to Bengal, and the tomb is generally considered a memorial rather than his actual grave — but for centuries people have honoured him here, and it is one of the best-known shrines in the region.
Beside the shrine stands an old three-domed mosque from the Mughal period, and at the foot of the hill is a large pond. The pond is what makes the place famous beyond Chattogram: it is home to black softshell turtles, a species so rare that it was for years thought to survive only in shrine ponds like this one, protected because people consider them sacred.
Visitors come to pray, to make vows, and to watch the turtles rise to the surface for food. It is a living place of devotion and also, quietly, a refuge for one of the world’s rarest turtles.
Start at the pond at the foot of the hill and wait for the turtles to surface.
Climb the steps to the shrine on the hilltop, and see the old Mughal mosque beside it.
Ride south to the Commonwealth war cemetery for a quiet half hour.
Finish with mezbani beef at one of the restaurants around GEC.
Any time of year; mornings are calmer. The turtles are easiest to see on warm, sunny days.
In the north of the city near Nasirabad: about 20 minutes by CNG from GEC Circle.
