Maheshkhali Island

Tidal island with a hilltop pagoda and Shiva shrine side by side

A tidal island about 12 kilometres from Cox's Bazar by boat, reached from the main jetty in around 30 minutes. The island has mangrove forests along its western edge, fishing villages, salt pans, and a central hill that holds both a Buddhist pagoda and the Adinath Shiva shrine standing close together at the top. The combination of sites is unusual and worth the trip.

The approach by country boat gives good views of the fishing fleet. On the island itself, a modest road leads up to the hilltop temples. The working fishing community is the island's livelihood — shrimp drying on bamboo frames is a common sight near the shore. The island is popular with Bangladeshi day-trippers but sees relatively few foreign visitors. Boats run frequently during daylight hours; negotiate at the jetty. The round trip, including time to walk up to the temples, takes about three to four hours.

things to do sight
A story
The Adinath Shiva temple at the top of Maheshkhali's hill is mentioned in Bengali texts as far back as the 17th century, but its current structure dates mainly from the 19th century. The Buddhist pagoda next to it is younger but the proximity of the two — a Hindu shrine and a Buddhist pagoda sharing the same hilltop — is characteristic of the syncretic religious geography of the Bangladesh-Myanmar borderlands, where Arakanese Buddhist, Bengali Hindu, and Muslim communities have overlapped for centuries.