Dhamrai Upazila

Geography

Dhamrai Upazila is located about 40 kilometers north west of the capital city of Dhaka. It is one of the six Upazilas of Dhaka district. The Upazila is surrounded by the Upazilas of Mirzapur and Kaliakair and Nagarpur on the north, Singair on the south, Savar in the east and Saturia on the west.

Dhamrai is located within the coordinates of 90.02 - 90.14E and 23.50 - 24.02E. The total area of Dhamrai Upazila is 307.4 km². It has 57,297 units of households. The Upazila consists of one municipality (Pouroshova), 16 unions and 398 villages.

Dhamrai Upazila is composed of the alluvium soil of the Bongshi and Dholesshori rivers. Other rivers are Kolmai and Gazikhali.

Demographics

At the 1991 Bangladesh census, Dhamrai had a population of 312,777. Males constituted 50.37% of the population, and females constituted 49.63%. The population of citizens 18 years and older was 163,449. Dhamrai had an average literacy rate of 29.5% (7+ years), lower than the national average of 32.4%. The breakdown of Population is as follows:

Administration

Dhamrai has 16 Unions/Wards, 281 Mauzas/Mahallas/Mouzas, and 398 villages.

Dhamrai was once under the Thana (now Upazila) of Savar. Dhamrai became a Thana itself in 1914 during the British rule; the same year Dhamrai Hardinge High School was established. In 1947 it was put under the district of Dhaka. On December 15, 1984 Dhamrai was upgraded into a full-fledged Upazila.

Naming of Dhamrai:

There are two versions of how the name of Dhamrai came about:- (1) During the time of Asoka the Great there was a Buddhist "Dharmarajika" and the name became truncated and in time came to be known as Dhamrai. The discovery of a prehistoric Buddhist "stupa" in Savar, about 10 miles away from Dhamrai lends credence to this opinion. (2) A famous Sufi saint, Hazrat Shahjalal, came to what is now Bangladesh, about eight hundred years ago with 360 companions. Legend has it that five of them (Tirmizi Al-Hussaini, Hazrat Hazi, Hazrat Gazi, Hazrat Zambahadur and Hazrat Shah Magdum) came to Dhamrai area which was then sparsely populated and heavily forested. They settled and started leading a secluded life. Food supplies ultimately ran short and one day they found a stray cow wandering about. They slaughtered the cattle and used the meat to satisfy their hunger. After a few days a couple by the name of Dhama Gope and his wife Rai Goalini came and claimed that the cow was theirs. They demanded compensation for the cow. The Sufis learnt that the couple was childless. It is said that with their blessings a child was born to the couple and also they said that they would name the place so that their names would forever be remembered. Thus the name Dhamrai (Dham+Rai) came about.

Economy

The total cultivable land is 23,470 hectares. Of the total cultivable land (in hectares):

Farmers by Land Occupancy:

Food Production:

Culture

DHAMRAI ROTH JATRA AND FAIR: The annual Jagannath Roth Jatra is a famous Hindu festival attracting thousands of people. Dhamrai is well known for this annual festival all throughout Bangladesh. Roth jatra festival begins on around the 10 day of Bangla Calendar month of Ashar and "Ulto Roth" takes place one week after. A month-long Roth Maela (রথ মেলা) is held in Dhamrai for this occasion. This commemorates the annual journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balarama, and their sister Subhadra to their aunt's temple. During the festival, devotees help pull the Lords' chariot with ropes. They consider this a pious deed and risk their lives in the huge crowd. The huge processions accompanying the chariots play devotional songs with drums, tambourines, trumpets etc. Children line the streets through which the chariot will pass and add to the mass chorus. The Roth cart is approximately 45 feet (14 m) high and pulled by the pilgrims who turn up for the event.

METAL CASTING: The main center for metal casting in Bangladesh is in Dhamrai. For many generations, this place has produced handmade metal (Bronze)ware for markets throughout Bangladesh, using the lost wax casting (cire perdue) method and hollow casting method that is over 2,000 years old. These methods are used to make items ranging from ornate Hindu and Buddhist statues to simple household objects such as pitchers (kolshi as is locally called) and also items include quality statues, decanters, bowls, spoons and plates. Over the past fifty years, many of the families in Bangladesh who have been involved in the metal casting trade have taken on other work. With stiff competition from inexpensive machine-made aluminum and plastic products coming in from India and other countries in the region, the market for hand-cast items has gradually dwindled away. As a result, the tradition of making handmade cast metal objects is in jeopardy. For example, there are only six people left in Bangladesh who are capable of making masterpiece-quality Hindu and Buddhist images using the lost wax method. Twenty years ago, there were over 30 craftsmen who knew this technique. If this trade is someday lost, an important part of Bangladesh's artistic tradition will vanish forever. Dhamrai is also well known for pottery.

NGOs working in Dhamrai:

Education

There are 139 Government Primary schools; 15 High Schools; 25 Junior High Schools; 109 schools run by NGOs; 11 Madrasahs, 6 Colleges and 1 Agriculture College in Dhamrai Upazila.

List of high schools in Dhamrai

List of Colleges in Dhamrai