I was serving at Sylhet in a Govt. rural development department during 1979 to 1985. One of my friends Mr. Wahab, he served in a British Pharmaceutical company. Once in the early December in 1982, we decided to have a trip to Hakaluki Haur, the greatest grazing field of migrating birds in Bangladesh. . “Haur” is a bangle word which means big natural wetlands (Water reservoir). Normally, during winter these haurs turn into a vast green land and in the rainy season they turn into a sea. But Hakaluki is different; it remains full of water throughout the seasons.

Hakaluki is in the district of Moulovi Bazar at Kulaura upazila. Hakaluki is situated in between Kulaura, Juri and Baralekha upazila. The haur is about 42 (Forty Two) sq.km.

We took our journey by a car from Sylhet to Hakaluki via Biyani Bazar upazila. We started for Hakaluki 3 hour before sunrise with a target to reach the spot before sun rise. Because, after sun rise many birds fly away to collect food, they will come back in the evening.

When we reach the spot, it was still dark. Mr. Wahab is an experienced expert man of bird observer and he asked me to observe the clods on water surface. And he told me this black layer on water surface which seemed like black clods are all birds on the water surface. After sun rise you can see them clearly
As the day light is coming up we saw that thousands and thousands of birds were there on the water.We noticed that thousands of birds were chattering in the sky at the sun rising moment. Various kinds of birds from different parts of the world especially birds fly from Siberia across the Himalayas to avoid the sever cold used to migrate at Hakaluki every year.

We saw more then 20 parties who came to observe birds early in the morning. As day light is increasing more and more parties and families are coming. With in half an hour we saw many visitors come to observe migrated birds. Hakaluki is a very large Haur in Bangladesh and the natural beauty of the place make interested the people of various parts of Bangladesh who are interested keenly to visit Hakaluki for simply watch the biggest birds-convocation at the place. We left Hakaluki at 10 am for Sylhet by our car, having an extra ordinary experience of nature.

Visitors used to visit Hakaluki every year in the winter to observe spectacular scenes and charisma of beauty in Hakaluki.

While, I was working in Sylhet, I had many gusts in every month then I expect. The reasons behind this are that Sylhet region is amongst few places of the country where the topography is prominently featured by hills and hillocks, dales and valleys, scenic tea plantations and lush green tropical forests. The 14th century holy shine of Hazrat Shah Jalal and Hazrat Shah Paran are the main attraction for religious tourist. Madhabkunda- a waterfall, Tamabil and Jaflong are natural scenic spots, Tea Gardens in the area, Waterfalls yards across Indian boarder, hills and hillocks around together create an exotic atmosphere. Another interesting feature of Sylhet region is the aboriginal tribes such as the Tripuras; the Manipuries; Khasia and Garos. Sylhet is also famous for its Manipuri dance.

One day, my younger brother’s Naim (He lives in Bulgaria) and Babul (Lives in Singapore) and their family come to my house to perform “Mazar Sharif” Zarit and visit Madhabkunda. Before that I did not visit Madhabkunda but I was interested and looking for a nice and safe trip to Madhabkunda. When they proposed me to accompany them, I gladly accepted the proposal and I decided to take a brake and accompany them.

MadhabKunda is situated in the upazilla Baralekha of Sylhet district. And it is about 78 kilometers from Sylhet town and 3 kilometers from Dakhinbagh Railway station. It is in eastern area of Sylhet on the border of Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam. Madhabkunda is famous for its beautiful largest waterfall in Bangladesh which attracts large number of tourists every year.

Next day, we hired a micro bus and started for the famous Madhabkunda waterfall early in the morning. At around 8.30 am, while, we were passing a ‘haur’, we saw thousands and thousands of birds were flying in the sky. Out of curiosity, when we asked the driver, why there are so many birds? He told us that they were from Hakaluki haur. Then I remember that the greatest “haur” named Hakaluki. Hakaluki haur is the biggest grazing field of migrated birds in Bangladesh.
If you take the root from Dhaka,Kulaura, Juri and Baralekha on way to Madhabkunda you can have a break at Hakaluki for some time to enjoy the beauty of Hakaluki.

At 11.00am we reached Madhabkunda. Since it was a Saturday, many Bangladeshis and some foreigner were there with their families. In fact, Sylhet is a gift of beauty of nature and so MadhabKunda is one of the most exquisite wonder spot to visit where traveler can enjoy water fall which falls from a height 300 ft.

A beautiful pond is naturally created by the fall and the visitors can’t but to have a sweet bath in the pond. The women stood ankle-deep in the water or watched their kids on the shore. The men stripped themselves to shorts and jumped into the murky base of the waterfall.

I turn on my cell phone and take some snap. I waded into the water for a little bit but ultimately I ended up getting completely submerged in the water. The waterfall itself was very pretty. A couple of people request me to take some snaps for them so I did.

The natural beauty of up and round the fall is quite charming. There are small hills and tea gardens which added the extra attractions to the visitors. Visitors can see the water fall of Madhab Kunda directly from the top of the fall. Visiting Madhab Kunda is a present experience of the visitors and thousand of visitors from home and abroad used to visit Madhab Kunda in every year. At 2.00 pm we left Madhabkunda and reached Sylhet at 6.0 pm.

How to visit:

Travelers can take journey by train from Dhaka to Sylhet and they can avail a trip of Micro Bus Sylhet to Madhab Kunda. If visitors take a root from Kulaura via Juri/ Baralekha, they can enjoy the beauty of Hakaluki haur, tea gardens of Juri and Baralekha on the way to Madhab Kunda. Jaidhupi is famous place for the sweetest pine apples in Bangladesh and there are numerous pine apple gardens in Jaldhupi. Visitors can have taste of the sweetest pine apple in summer.