Narsingdi, Dhaka
Narsingdi
A weaving and trading district on the Meghna, east of Dhaka, best known to travellers for Wari-Bateshwar, the remains of a fortified town more than two thousand years old.
Local food to try
Where to eat
Where to stay
Culture
Narsingdi’s life turns on cloth and trade.
- Weaving: the clack of looms is everywhere around Madhabdi; the weekly cloth market at Baburhat draws wholesale buyers from across the country.
- Fruit country: Shibpur and Belabo are known for lotkon (Burmese grape), and the district’s sagar bananas are sold far beyond it.
- Rivers: the Meghna and the Old Brahmaputra shape village life, with ghats, boats and river markets.
History
Narsingdi lies between the Meghna and the Old Brahmaputra, on the old river routes of eastern Bengal. Long part of Dhaka district, it became a separate district in 1984.
Its deepest history was found by chance. Villagers at Wari and Bateshwar in Belabo had for generations turned up old coins and beads in their fields; a local schoolteacher began collecting them in the 1930s, and excavations since 2000 have revealed a fortified settlement with walls, a moat and a paved road, among the oldest urban sites known in Bangladesh.
Today Narsingdi is a district of looms and cloth markets. Madhabdi and the Baburhat cloth market are names known to traders across the country, and the villages around them are full of power looms and handlooms. The district is also famous for its fruit, especially bananas and lotkon.
Plan your visit
Best time to visit
November to February for comfortable site visits; June to August for lotkon season
How to get there
- By bus: buses from Dhaka (Gulistan, Sayedabad and the Demra–Kanchpur side) take the Dhaka–Sylhet highway to Narsingdi town, about 1.5–2 hours depending on traffic. Buses to Belabo and Bhairab continue further along the same highway.
- From Sylhet and Kishoreganj: Dhaka-bound buses pass through Narsingdi.
- By train: Narsingdi station is on the Dhaka–Bhairab line; commuter and some intercity trains from Kamalapur stop there.
Getting around
- Rickshaws and battery autos in Narsingdi town.
- Local buses and CNG auto-rickshaws along the Dhaka–Sylhet highway to Madhabdi, Shibpur, Raipura and Belabo.
- For Wari-Bateshwar, a CNG from the highway or from Belabo is the practical way to reach the villages.