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Tourist Spot

Title
The Shrine of Bayazid Bostami
Location
Transportation

Bus or auto rickshaw can be used to reach this tourist destination.

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Details

The Shrine of Bayazid Bostami is a shrine in Chittagong, Bangladesh. He was a famous Persian Sufi. He was also known as Sultan-ul-Arefin. He was born in the town of Bostam and died in 874 AD. His name is associated with this famous durgah of Chittagong.


Location: 


The Shrine of Bayazid Bostami is situated on top of a hillock at Nasirabad, near Chittagong Cantonment.


History:


Bayazid Bostami, a historical figure, is not known to have ever visited Bengal. Muslim fakirs and auliyas of that time used to come to Chittagong to take their seats on hill-tops surrounded by jungles. They built shrines and mausoleums there in imitation of temples and vihars, in the name of Bayazid Bostami and Abdul Qadir Jilani. Perhaps they would earn livelihood and organize people in this way. Everybody admits that Bayazid Bostami did not die here at Chittagong and the tomb at Chittagong attributed to him is a jawab or imitation.


A good proportion of the people believe that Bostami in fact visited this part of the world during his lifetime. Chittagong is a seaport, and the Arabs used to visit the port with trading vessels even at the 8th century. Hence it is not improbable that the saint came to this place in the 9th century. According to legend, local followers asked him to stay in Chittagong during his return. Overwhelmed by their love and devotion, Bostami pierced his little finger, allowed a few drops of blood to fall to the ground, and permitted his followers to build a shrine there on his name. Some 18th century poets of Chittagong remembered a learned man named 'Shah Sultan' in their poems. Historians believe that the 'Shah Sultan' of the poems was the abbreviation of 'Sultan-ul-Arefin' and hence Shah Sultan and Bayazid Bostami were identical.


Description:


The tomb was originally discovered at a ground on the hillside in 1831 and at that time it was enclosed by a wall with protective pillars. The tomb was just in the middle of the ground. Later the tomb was replaced by a modern brick structure. At the foot of the tomb hill, there is an ancient three-domed mosque, which is believed to date from the time of the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb. There is a large pond in the plain in front of the tomb.


The durgah complex consists of the tomb, the ancient three-domed mosque and the large pond. The pond houses a large number of black soft-shelled Bostami turtles and gazar fishes. Bostami turtles are a very rare and critically endangered species. Legends claim that these turtles are the descendents of evil spirits that incurred the wrath of the renowned saint, Bayazid Bostami, while he was visiting the area. It is believed that the evil spirits were then transformed into turtles as a punishment and are doomed to spend eternity in this pool. It is assumed that this pond adjacent to the shrine has 150 to 350 turtles at present. The turtles lay eggs in the reserved places behind the main hill of the shrine during the breeding season. As the caretaker of the shrine, the Mazar Committee protects the turtle population. Bostami turtles are objects of additional attraction to the visitors who feed them bananas, puffed rice etc.

Photos