Jhenaidah, Khulna
Jhenaidah
A district of old mosques and village life on the Nabaganga, with the Sultanate-era mosques of Barobazar and the giant banyan tree of Mallikpur.
Local food to try
Where to eat
Where to stay
Culture
- Barobazar’s mosques and the legend of Gazi, Kalu and Champaboti make the district one of the most interesting early-Muslim heritage areas in the south-west.
- The temples of the Naldanga zamindars at Kaliganj and the Shailkupa Shahi Mosque are among its older buildings.
- Kotchandpur was long known for date-palm sugar and gur, and the whole district taps date palms in winter.
- Bir Sreshtho Hamidur Rahman is remembered at his home village in Moheshpur.
History
Jhenaidah sits on the Nabaganga in the heart of the south-west, on the highway between Jashore and Kushtia. Once a subdivision of Jessore, it became a district in 1984.
The area is much older than its towns. At Barobazar in Kaliganj upazila, excavations have uncovered a cluster of Sultanate-period mosques, signs of a sizeable settlement in the 15th–16th centuries; local tradition links the area with the saint Khan Jahan Ali and with the folk tale of Gazi, Kalu and Champaboti. Later centuries left zamindar houses and temples, among them those of the Naldanga zamindars in Kaliganj and the old Shahi Mosque at Shailkupa.
In the 19th century Jhenaidah, like Jashore, was indigo country and saw the peasants’ revolt against the planters. In 1971 it gave the nation Bir Sreshtho Hamidur Rahman, born in Moheshpur upazila, one of the seven highest-honoured heroes of the Liberation War.
Plan your visit
Best time to visit
October to February, when it is dry and cool for walking between sites
How to get there
- By bus from Dhaka: about 4–5 hours, via the Padma Bridge or the Paturia–Daulatdia ferry; Jhenaidah is on the main highway to Jashore and Khulna, and also has direct buses.
- By bus from Khulna: about 2.5 hours via Jashore.
- From Jashore: about an hour by bus.
- There is no airport; the nearest is Jashore.
Getting around
- In Jhenaidah town, use rickshaws and battery auto-rickshaws.
- Buses on the Jashore–Jhenaidah highway stop at Barobazar and Kaliganj.
- For Kotchandpur and Mallikpur, take a local bus or CNG, then a van or auto-rickshaw.
- Hiring a CNG for the day lets you combine Barobazar and Mallikpur.