Of spiritual and natural: Revitalizing the religious and natural tourism in Sitakunda through Architecture and landscape

Abstract

Among the many religiously significant sites in the country, the largest Pilgrimage for Hindus takes place in the Chandranath hills of Sitakunda, Chattogram in the Bengali month of Falgun. Hindus are a minority in Bangladesh comprising only 8.5% of the total population (population census 2011). Even though lacs of people gather in this site from home and abroad during the Pilgrimage, the quality of the trail and the facilities involved are not up to the mark. The site, apart from being religiously significant, offers magnificent natural setting with Hills, Water springs, view of the Bay of Bengal, making it a popular tourist destination. Thousands of tourists/ trekkers go to this destination in order to go to the top of the hills where the Chandranath temple lies but little do they know about the great Hindu Legends that the hills hold. The Project mainly deals with the Religious Tourism that takes place in a natural setting. It includes designing the whole journey of a pilgrim or a tourist and rejuvenating the hundreds of years’ old pilgrimage trail along an undulating topography punctuated by restored historic buildings. This Project also offers new sensitive facility additions with a scope to make people aware of the legends that the hills hold. It starts with the place from where one starts his/ her journey after getting down from the highway or the railway station to the very end of the trail i.e. the final destination, Chandranath temple peak and every necessary facility that falls in between.