Rangamati, Chattogram
Rangamati’s great Buddhist monastery on the edge of Kaptai Lake, founded around the revered forest monk Banabhante.
Rajban Vihara is the spiritual centre for many Chakma and other Buddhists of the Hill Tracts. Besides Kathin Chibar Dan, Buddha Purnima and the full moon of Probarana (the end of the rainy-season retreat) are celebrated with prayers, offerings and lamps.
Rajban Vihara is the most important Buddhist monastery in Rangamati and one of the best-known in the country. It grew up in the 1970s around Sadhanananda Mahasthavir, a forest monk known to all as Banabhante, who had spent years meditating in the hills. Followers from across the Hill Tracts came to hear him, and the monastery grew on land near the Chakma Raja’s residence beside the lake.
Banabhante died in 2012, and he is still deeply revered; a memorial to him stands in the monastery grounds. The vihara has prayer halls, monks’ quarters and quiet paths among trees, with the lake on its edge.
The monastery is best known for its Kathin Chibar Dan, held after the rainy-season retreat. In a single day and night, devotees spin cotton, dye it, weave it and sew it into a robe for the monks — a feat of devotion that draws huge crowds.
Take a CNG from town; mornings are calm and cool.
Visit the prayer halls and Banabhante’s memorial, and walk the shaded paths by the lake.
The Chakma Raja’s residence is nearby; view it from outside, as it is a private home.
Continue by boat or CNG to the hanging bridge, or take an afternoon boat on Kaptai Lake.
October to March. To see Kathin Chibar Dan, visit in October–November after the rainy-season retreat; check the date locally.
In Rangamati town, near the Chakma Raja’s residence: a short CNG ride from Reserve Bazar or Banarupa, or a stop on a boat trip across the lake.
