Shrine Tour Of Bayazid Bostami (r)

Shrine of Bayazid Bostami (R)

The Mazar (shrine) of Bayezid Bostami (R) is located in the Najirhat area of Chittagong town. This Mazar which has grown and developed in the name of Bayezid Bostami (R), the celebrated Sufi of Iran, is a place of attraction for the devout Muslims of Chittagong as well as for the tourists at home and abroad. Bayezid Bostami (R) in the middle of the ninth century came from Persia to Chittagong by the sea in order to preach Islam.

The structure of this tomb was first discovered in 1831 in a walled yard on the top of the hill. Later on, the tomb was replaced by a modern structure. At the foot of the graveyard, there is a three-domed rectangular mosque of Mughal style and there is also a large pond (dighi).

From the architectural point of view, it is assumed that the mosque was built during the time of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Tortoises and Gajar fish (Giant Snakehead) in the Dighi located at the foot of the Mazar are noted. In the local language, they are called Mazari and Gajari. These tortoises are very rare and nearly extinct species. The hearsay goes that Bayezid Bostami (R) turned the wicked and mischievous jins into tortoises by way of punishment and gave a life sentence to live in the pond.

Explore More About Shrine Bayazid Bostami:

The Shrine of Bayazid Bostami is a shrine in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Bayazid Bostami was a famous Persian Sufi born in Bostam, Iran. Its shrine area as a complex consists of a tomb surrounded by a brick structure along with an old mosque and a large pond. There is no significant historical evidence about Bostami's visit and tomb in this area. The whole complex is located on a hillock of Nasirabad, considered to be a holy place and attracts a large number of visitors and pilgrims daily.

Although the shrine is believed to be Bostami's tomb according to local tradition, there is no significant historical evidence about Bostami's visit to this part of Bangladesh. It is thought that this tomb was attributed to him as a jawab or imitation. According to Hamidullah Khan (a historian of 19th-century Chittagong), Muslim faqirs and wanderers of the time used to come to Chittagong to take their seats on hilltops surrounded by jungles.

In front of the tomb, there is a large pond that houses a large number of black soft-shelled turtles known as Bostami turtle or Bostami kachim (locally called Mazari) which are very rare and critically endangered species. Legends claim that these turtles are the descendants 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. At present, the shrine's caretakers – the Mazar Committee – protect the turtle population but will not allow specimens to be taken anymore, regardless of whether they would be killed or reintroduced into the wild.