Bholaganj Sylhet

Bholaganj, located in Companyganj upazila on the border of Sylhet district, surrounded by nature, is the largest stone quarry in the country. The high mountains of India's Meghalaya state stand as a natural wall on the border of Bholaganj. The spring coming down from that hill is on the one hand the water supplier of Dhalai river and on the other hand this water flow is the source of the shape of Bholaganj. The green hills, the clouds and the white stones that come down with the rains have added to the beauty of Bholaganj.

The place surrounded by stones at the source of Dhalai river is known as Bholaganj zero point or white stone. The white rock area looks like a delta. Dhalai River enters the Bangladeshi part and divides into two parts, turns around and joins again. Along with the waters of the Dhalai River, a lot of rocks come down from the Khasia Jaintia Hills in India. Bholaganj Ropeway was constructed from 1964-1969 to facilitate stone extraction. From Bholaganj, this 11.5 mile long ropeway runs to Chatak, which was in use till 1994. Today, the towers of the ropeway bear the memory of the past. Even though the ropeway is closed, stone mining has not stopped. Quarrying this stone is still the source of livelihood for many local residents. On the way to Sadapathar from Ghat No. 10, you will see the sight of stones being picked up or stones being carried in small boats.

There is a land customs station on the border at Bholaganj. Limestone is mainly imported through this station. Every day hundreds of trucks enter Bangladesh with limestone. There are two other beautiful places like Utmachara and Turungchara near the Sadapathar area. However, it is better to avoid planning to visit these two places except during the rainy season.

The best time to visit Bholaganj is during the rainy season and the following months. That is, you can visit anytime from June to December from Bholaganj. At other times you can see the rocky beauty but the water flow in the river is relatively less.

The distance from Sylhet to Bholaganj is about 35 km. If you want to go to Bholaganj from anywhere in the country, you have to come to Sylhet city first. Bholaganj can be reached by bus, CNG, Laguna or private car from Sylhet. At present the condition of the road to Bholaganj is very good.

Sylhet by bus from Dhaka : AC buses of Green Line, Saudia, S Alam, Shyamli and Ena Paribahan travel from Fakirapool, Syedabad and Mohakhali bus stations. And non-AC bus fare is 600 to 800 taka.

Dhaka to Sylhet by train: To go to Sylhet from Dhaka by train, you can choose Upaban, Jayantika, Parabat or Kalni Express train from Kamalapur or Biman Bandar railway station. The train fare will cost from Tk 375 to Tk 1,288 depending on the class.

Chittagong to Sylhet : From Chittagong you can go to Sylhet by bus and train. Two trains named Paharika and Udayan Express from Chittagong to Sylhet ply 6 days a week. The train fare will cost from Tk 450 to Tk 1,541 depending on the class.

BRTC, local and tourist buses are available from Ambarkhana in Sylhet to CNG and Bholaganj from Majumdari area. These buses run every 20 minutes from 8 am to 6 pm. You can go to Sadapathar near Bholaganj zero point for a fare of 70 taka per person. You can go to Bholaganj by local CNG for 130 to 150 taka per person. CNG Reserve fare will cost 1200 to 1300 Tk. 5 people can sit in one CNG. It will take about 1 hour 30 minutes to go from Ambarkhana to Bholaganj. It will cost 800 taka to rent a boat from Bholaganj number 10 boat wharf to and from Sadapathar. A maximum of 10 people can go on each boat, although the authorities do not want to allow more than 8 people on a boat. In this case, it is not a problem to explain. If you are traveling alone or with less people, then if you want to rent a boat at a low cost, there are many boats that can take 1 person, 2 people, 8-10 people in total. In that case, sharing the rent will reduce the cost to the boat renter. You can spend as much time as you want in the white stone area. In this case, talk to the driver and take the phone number of the driver.

If you want, you can directly go to Bholaganj ghat number 10 by reserving a micro or private car. The cost will be Rs. 2500-3000.

Besides, you can go to Bholaganj via Tuk Bazar in Companyganj by CNG, Laguna or private car. Autorickshaw fare from Sylhet city to Tuk Bazar is Tk 200 per person. Trawlers are available from Tuk Bazar to Bholaganj Zero Point Sadapathar. Even during the rainy season you can go to Bholaganj by boat.

Two more tourist places near Bholaganj are Utmachahra and Turangchahra. Many people travel to White Stone to visit Utmachara and Turangchara. If you want to visit Bholaganj's white stone and go to Utmachara, you have to go to Dayarbazar first. If you tell the boatman that you are going to Bholaganj, he will drop you at Dayarbazar Ghat. In that case, you may have to pay a little more. Or tell me when to fix the boat in advance.

Go to Dayar Bazar and from there take CNG/bike for Tk 30-50 per person and go to Char Bazar. If you go to the fodder market and ask someone, they will show you the way to Utmachara. 10-15 minutes walk from there you will reach Utmachara point. And it takes 30-40 minutes to walk from Chararbazar to Turangchara. If you want, you can also take a bike from Chararbazar.

While returning to Sylhet, you can directly take CNG from Chararbazar/Dayarbazar/Bholaganj to Ambarkhana in Sylhet according to your location.

There is no good food hotel or restaurant in Bholaganj Sadapathar or Ghat No. 10. There are some hotels of normal quality like eating rice fish and local food. There are some medium quality food hotels including Deshbandhu Restaurant, Alam Hotel in Companyganj Upazila Sadar on Bholaganj Jabar Road and Navin Restaurant, Maya Restaurant in Tuk Bazar. If you have breakfast from Sylhet before leaving for Bholaganj, you can travel all day and come back to Sylhet for dinner. But local hotel is the only hope for having lunch.

There are no good residential hotels like Bholaganj or Companyganj. If you need to stay in Bholaganj for any reason then you should go to Companyganj upazila headquarters. Companyganj has standard non-AC residential hotels like Hotel Al Chadiq, Halima Boarding, Badsha Boarding, Hotel Al Hasan etc. and a Dak Bungalow of Zilla Parishad.

If you leave in the morning, you can visit Bholaganj and return to Sylhet in the afternoon/evening. So it is better to return to Sylhet city for night stay. There are many quality residential hotels and rest houses at low rent in Lalabazar area and Darga Road Where you will get different types of rooms for 500 to 1000 taka. Besides, you can stay in hotels like Hill Town, Gulshan, Darga Gate, Surma, Kaikobad etc. according to your needs and capacity.