The majestic backwaters of Bangladesh

Hundreds of interconnected canals such as the one in the picture can be seen all over the southern regions of Bangladesh

The verdure of southern Bangladesh is simply breathtaking. Trees and bushes densely surround almost every household in the villages of Barisal, Pirojpur and Jhalakathi. This vegetation not only ensures privacy for the otherwise conservative homes but also creates a solid cyclone barrier. As you travel through this region, you can feel the oxygenated fragrance in the air too. Remarkably, the watery landscape is dotted with clusters of these man-made forests around each of the homes.
A network of living canals connect almost every household in this part of the country, where low and high tides vigorously play their roles twice a day. For centuries, the communities here have evolved in their own way in order to cope with nature, which offers hundreds of canals and rivers winding their way through the landmass.

The beautiful greenery on either side of the canals provide a serene and calming experience.

This area plays a massive part in the getaway of the huge amount of sweet water rushing down from the Himalayas and the Tibetan regions into the Bay of Bengal, 50 kilometers downstream. This is the last boundary between the sweet water of the Himalayas and the aggressive saline water of the Bay.
Flooding of the villages is extremely rare in this region, for the locals have developed a unique system to accommodate the floodwater. Everyone digs a trench around their home. The trench, locally known as baar, is connected to the nearby canal systems. The trenches serve many vital purposes. Each baar, about 5-6 feet wide and 4-5 feet deep, is the demarcation of one’s homestead and more importantly it takes in the excess floodwater from the canals or rivers during the monsoon and rejuvenates the land with enriched silt. For the farmer, it also prevents astray cattle from entering the vegetated areas.

The trenches (baar) such as the one in the picture, can be seen adjoining almost every other home, amidst the picturesque greenery.

Throughout the region, hundreds of kilometers of these trenches also attract fishes, where housewives can be seen trapping fish with a traditional contraption called chaabi, right at their doorsteps.
A passage through these incredible system of canals can be an exquisite and memorable experience. As you cruise down the canals on a rowing boat, your vision of the surroundings is set at the level of the banks. The reassuring silence is only broken by the sounds of the surroundings; the noise of the oar, a screeching woodpecker flying over, a cock crowing in a farmer’s yard or a mosque loudspeaker calling for prayers.
Both banks of the canals represent hundreds of human plantations like rain trees, coconuts and fruits, which occasionally appear as a canopy overhead riddled with millions of holes to let the sunlight reach you below. Along it, a treasure of wild foliage of ferns and hundreds of other tropical plants slowly unfold.

A boatman enjoys an afternoon nap in the serene settings of the backwaters in the southern regions of Bangladesh.

The kaleidoscopic drama keeps going for miles when suddenly wet and lush green paddy fields open up before you. The embracing shades around you could convince even the worst of atheists to thank someone up there.

A view of the opening of the canal where it joins the wide river, after miles of snaking through the villages.

Ahead, a wide river opens up to welcome the canal to join it. As you continue, the landscape changes from quiet farmlands to bustling villages where grinning men, women and children gaze at you.
Story by: Morshed Ali Khan
Photographs by: Sirajul Hossain and Morshed Ali Khan
For queries regarding specialised visits to the magnificent backwaters of southern Bangladesh, please ring Morshed on +01711 62 3901 or mail: morshed99@yahoo.com

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Posted by Reportsbd on Aug 30 2015. Filed under Home Slide, Special Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry