Gaibandha

This article is about the city. For district, see Gaibandha District.

Gaibandha গাইবান্ধা
Town and district headquarters
Gaibandha
Coordinates:
Country	Bangladesh
Region	Rangpur Division
District	Gaibandha District
Area
• Total	32.60 km2 (12.59 sq mi)
Population
• Total	59,289
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,700/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+6 (BST)

Gaibandha (Bengali: গাইবান্ধা) is a town and district headquarters of Gaibandha District in northern Bangladesh. It is a centre of commerce and trade of the Gaibandha District and is located under the Rangpur Division. The area of the city is approximately 10.54 square kilometres. To its north is the neighbouring city of Rangpur

It consists of nine wards. It is certified as a "ka" (A) category Paurasava(municipality).

Name

The city is named after its eponymous district. There are two opinions about the name of Gaibandha. The most famous opinion is: around five thousand years ago, capital of Matsya Kingdom of King Birat was in Gobindaganj area. "Matsa" means fish and "desh" means country(মাছের দেশ). Fishes were abundant in his kingdom so the term "Matsa Desh" was created. According to Mahabharata, king Birat had 60,000 cows which were frequently robbed by robbers. To protect his cattle from robbers, king Birat established a huge cattle-shed. The cattle were tied up alongside the rivers of this area. "Gai" means "cow" and "Bandha" means "to tie up". From this reason the area was called Gaibandha.

Nearby sites

• Shah Sultan Gazi's Mosque
• Balashi Ghat
• Mirer Bagan Zam-E Mosque
• Bardhan Kuthi
• Varatkhali Kastho Mandir
• Naldanga Zamindar Bari