Riviera, we are told, is a description that may be applied to any coastline, especially one “that is sunny, topographically diverse, and popular with tourists.”
Amongst the most famous such coasts are, of course, those of the French and, the original, the Italian riviera. Not to forget such as the Red Sea riviera, the eastern shore of Egypt; the American riviera, around Santa Barbara in California... indeed, there are many countries in the world who have popular tourism destinations that have earned the epithet.
Originally, riviera was an Italian word, meaning just coastline. But it has acquired a halo that requires the existence of established popular appeal, and a backdrop of hills, forests, lakes and rivers. If it also has heritage and culture, with places for tourists to seek and find interest, there is little doubt of the right to the title.
And what better way to describe Cox’s Bazar District , as the wonderful coastline and hinterland of the world’s longest continuous natural sea beach, backed by the verdant forests and an outstanding topography of the lakes, rivers and hills of the Bandarban?
From historic Chakoria, marked so clearly on the late 16th century map by a Flemish cartographer, through ancient Ramu, with its second century CE recognition by the great Roman cartographer, Ptolemy, to Teknaf on the broad banks of the Naf River, which is the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Along the whole coastline of which stretch endless beaches interspaced with Mangroves clusters, this is, unquestionably, a sunshine coast, popular with tourists, with hills to climb, rivers to cross, lakes to reflect in, and seawaters to enjoy.
But, rather like the Ligurian coast of Italy, which first earned the riviera epithet, it is, perhaps, the tangled, complex and ultimately fascinating history that would engage any thinking traveller in search of leisure, pleasure, and stimulation around historic Cox’s Bazar. Liguria’s rocky coast may hold more hidden scenic secrets that that of Cox’s Bazar, but no one who has travelled the coast here, in Cox’s Bazar, explored the beaches and fishing villages with their colourful fleets, or scrambled the hill country communities, and the coastal villages, can fail to see comparisons with that, original riviera coast, Cinque Terra and all!
Even the inland bank of the broad sweep of the Naf, conjures up familiar scenic images of the French Riviera.
The ancient history of the area, sadly, lays, unlike that of Liguria, largely unexplored by archaeologists, and even the Ramkot Buddhist Temple on the outskirts of Ramu, claiming foundation by the third century BCE Emperor Ashoka has no evidence to support the claim. It is, however, not outside the realm of possibility to be true; no one knows for sure the real extent of the Mauryan Empire of which the famous Ashoka was the third Emperor, and it is certainly possible it extended as far, even, as beyond the Naf River.
Leaving aside the likelyhood that these coastal lands were once witness to the aboriginal , “Out of Africa” migrants, who left traces in the lands of Bangladesh in the now largely extinct Santhal peoples, they certainly saw a great deal of historic traffic.
The documentary evidence for such traffic is fairly considerable, as one might expect from an area, and people, reputed to be amongst the earliest converts, in about fourth or fifth century BCE, to Buddhism. Indeed, amongst others, the Buddha himself is said to have made his way to the ancient Arakanese capital of Pego, possibly by water, but just as probably, by land; in which case, he would certainly have travelled the ancient coastal route, now most familiarly referred to as Shah Suja’s Road. And who could miss the story of Shah Suja’s imperial flight along this coast to Arakan.
Since it is clear that most high status buildings hereabouts were historically constructed, unsurprisingly, of the wood that is plentiful, rather than the local stone that is little more than hardened sea bed mud, it is scarcely surprising that ancient buildings do not abound.
However, one of the earliest, perhaps, is the great Stupa that dominates the northern skyline beyond Ramu, said to be 1,000 years old. Known as the Golden Hill because of the inevitable legends of buried treasure that seem to abound, everywhere in South Asia where there are ancient buildings, it is an ever impressive reminder of some of the rich history.
Adventurous tourists seem to enjoy the steep climb to the Stupa, with its outstanding views towards the Bakkhali Valley and the tree clad heights of the Bandarban.
That Ramu itself is an ancient trading centre there is little doubt, and some of the remaining, centuries old, small, wooden, Buddhist Temples, appeal to most visitors, many wondering why the kind of delicately decorated structures tourists queue to visit in Myanmar and Tibet are not more widely pictured in Bangladesh.
Although we know that Ramu was besieged, over the centuries, by Burmese and Mughal armies, at least, there is no sign of the, probably, mud ramparts that seem to have successfully protected the place, like so many other ancient cities in Bangladesh.
Historic wanderings are certainly there for a respite from the riviera’s nascent sea front, and Cultural, too. Tribal peoples, such as Tripuran, Marma, Chakma are amongst groups within an hour or so drive from Cox’s Bazar, dwelling still in traditional houses, such as the stilt houses with the narrow notched steps up, that neither tigers nor reptiles can climb!
The colourful history of such peoples, believed, in some cases, to have originated in Mongolia a thousand and more years ago has been sadly dimmed through marginalisation and neglect, over the centuries, but their ancient culture is not hard to detect.
The Rakhine, themselves, the inhabitants of these lands in the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Arakan, although mastered, over the years by Tripura, Burma, Bengal and Britain still have traces of their own heritage, another fascinating aspect of the diverse historic and cultural heritage of the coastal lands, and the topographical wonder of the hills behind.
Few of the internationally acknowledged riviera can offer elephants as a part of the visitor appeal, and, although the Elephant Point, acknowledged by Academy Awarded Cecil Beaton, has probably seen no such visits for many a year, the nearby Teknaf Wildlife park, it is believed, still harbours an all round the year herd, as well as visiting pachyderms from across the Indian border.
In every way in which the world defines riviera, certainly one of the most resonant appeals to international tourism in the world, the south east of Bangladesh merits the word, and in spades!
It may well be that, like Bangladesh’s neglect of its unquestionable possession of another of the tourism world’s great icons, “Silk Road,” such neglect owes more to lack of experience and expertise in the world of International Tourism, than for any other reason. However, the realisation of the true value of the world’s longest sea beach requires “packaging and presentation” in a way today’s worldwide consumer society can identify with. And when it comes to coastal holidays, shopping, cuisine and heritage and culture are up there amongst the lead attractions. No one doubts the potential for the first two, anywhere in Bangladesh, with its history of both attractions; but even Bangladeshis themselves appear to doubt their ability to meet the latter desires. A pity, when it can so readily be found, everywhere you look in Bangladesh. And this “riviera” is no exception. Heritage indeed!
