Rangpur, Bangladesh

Rangpur রংপুর
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Rangpur Division
District	Rangpur District
Time zone	UTC+6 (BST)

Rangpur (Bengali: রংপুর) is one of the major cities in Bangladesh. Rangpur is considered as the centre of northwestern Bangladesh. Recently established public university of Bangladesh named as "Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur" is situated in the southern part of the city. Earlier Rangpur was the headquarter of Greater Rangpur district. Later the Greater Rangpur district was broken down into Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha districts. As a hub of trade, business and non-governmental organisational activities its influence over the districts under Greater-Dinajpur is also considerable.

Lifestyle

For shopping, there are two large shopping complexes. One is the older "Municipal Super Market", a three-storied building with a variety of small shops selling everything from soap, shoes and clothes to motorcycles, TVs and fans. There is a more modern building called the Jahaj Company Shopping Complex which has Rangpur's only escalator. At the top of this building is a department store, selling a wide assortment of children's toys, Indian kurtas, shalwar kameezes and saris, and other collectibles.

Karupanya is another store on Station Road which sells Rangpur's famous Satranji handloom carpets, which have earned acclaim for their extraordinary aesthetic appeal. The carpets were made in the village of Nishbetganj and were greatly popular in the Mughal era. In fact, it is believed that emperor Akbar used these carpets to adorn his palace in Delhi.

Karupanya was established the cottage industry of Satranji at Nishbetganj village. Starting with just five weavers, he has increased to more than 300 weavers today and is now exporting to foreign countries on a small scale. One can purchase a Satranji carpet at the Karupannya showroom in Rangpur or in Banani, Dhaka.

Places of interest

Tajhat Palace (Rangpur Divisional Head Quarter Building and Museum)

Carmichael College - adjacent to Rangpur University campus

Recently renovated front building of Rangpur Zilla School

• Tajhat Palace is located at Tajhat, the southern end of Rangpur city. It was the earlier high court building established in 1984 called the Tajhat, a former zamindar's palace. After the end of the British Raj, the building was abandoned and decayed rapidly, although it was used for a few years as a courthouse during the 1980s. In 2004, it was largely restored and turned into a museum which hosts a collection of Blackstone Hindu carvings, calligraphic art from the Mughal period and other objects d'art and coins from the area on display. Due to lack of funding, the museum is sometimes closed.
• Carmichael College is located in the southern part of the city and just a few minutes drive from the city centre.
• Rangpur Zilla School, established more than a century ago, is located in the cross-section of RDRS, Dhap and Kerani Para.

Education

Major educational institutes in the city include:

• Begum Rokeya College
• Carmichael College
• Colectorate School and College
• Policelines School and College
• Rangpur Cadet College
• Rangpur Cantonment Public College
• Rangpur Government College
• Rangpur Medical College
• Rangpur Polytechnic Institute
• Rangpur University
• Rangpur Zilla School

Healthcare

Hospitals in the city include Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH), a tertiary level public hospital with teaching facility in graduate and post graduate medical education. Other government institutes include a children hospital, a chest hospital and an infectious disease hospital. Private institutes include a Christian missionary hospital.

Media

Radio

Bangladesh Betar (Radio Bangladesh) has a regional station in Rangpur which transmits various programs of mass interest. Rangpur station has a broadcasting house and transmitters in different locations.The Rangpur station transmits its programs in Medium Wavelength. The popularity of the radio is low in Rangpur like other places of Bangladesh because of the low quality programmes of Bangladesh Betar.

Television

Bangladesh Television commonly known as BTV, is the national television channel of Bangladesh.Bangladesh Television (BTV) has satellite station in Rangpur.

Newspaper

There are a number of locally published newspapers in the district. Locally published newspapers and periodicals include Dabanal (1980), Juger Alo (1992), Dainik Paribesh (1994), Dainik Rangpur (1997), Weekly Atal (1991), Rangpur Barta (1996) and Weekly Bajrakantha (Pirganj). Former newspapers which are no longer published include Rangapur Bartabaha (1847), Rangapur Dik Prakash (1861), Rangapur Darpan (1907), Uttar Bangla (1960) and Pravati (1955).

Notable residents

• William Beveridge, British economist who wrote the Beveridge Report that influenced United Kingdom to implement welfare state policies after World War II
• Hussain Muhammad Ershad, former President of Bangladesh
• Nasir Hossain, prominent Bangladeshi all-round cricketer
• Anisul Hoque, author, novelist, dramatist, and journalist

External links

• Rangpur Municipality, Official website for Rangpur Municipality
• Rangpur oriented website
• Rangpur in Banglapedia, Banglapedia Article on Rangpur District
• Rangpur Web: Social Network, News & Info
• Rangpur Portal
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rangpur" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |W1EC= ignored (help)