Godagari Upazila

Godagari Upazila (rajshahi district) area 475.26 sq km, located in between 24°21' and 24°36' north latitudes and in between 88°17' and 88°33' east longitudes. It is bounded by nawabganj sadar and tanore upazilas on the north, west bengal of India and ganges river on the south, paba and Tanore upazilas on the east, Nawabganj Sadar upazila on the west.

Population Total 330924; male 166260, female 164664; Muslim 290482, Hindu 23618, Buddhist 6, Christian 11274 and others 5544. Indigenous community such as santal belongs to this upazila.

Water bodies Main rivers: padma, mahananda.

Administration Godagari Thana was formed in 1865 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
2	9	355	339	61176	269748	696	52.12 (2001)	45.3

Godagari Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
-	9	19	39766	-	53.2

Knokhat Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
-	9	25	16569	-	45.0

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
3.25 (2001)	3	4841	1454 (2001)	53.9

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Gogram 47	14586	15363	15380	49.0
Godagari 38	11806	9277	9377	31.8
Char Ashariadaha 19	8050	10763	10364	31.1
Deopara 28	12568	19835	19414	51.1
Pakri 76	11694	12911	13184	46.5
Basudebpur 16	4659	13449	12905	56.7
Matikata 57	10452	22509	22609	45.7
Mohanpur 66	21670	20262	19476	41.3
Rishikul 85	13671	13586	13925	46.3

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Buddhist Vihara (Pala period) at Uparbari Tila, tomb of Ali Kuli Beg at Kumarpur (eighteenth century), Padumsa Shiva Temple, dighi (pond) and stone inscription of Raja Bijoy Sen (eleventh century) at village Deopara, tomb of Hazrat Shah Sultan (fourteenth century, Sultanganj), Temple of Sree Sree Gaurangabari at Khetur (1582), Jaina Temple at Maguile.

War of Liberation Freedom fighters of the upazila had an encounter with the Pak army on 30 March 1971 in which EPR sepoy Abdul Malek was killed. The Pak army brutally killed 31 persons on 26 and 30 May in Godagari upazila. A memorial monument has been built at Sheikherpara.

For details: see গোড়াগাড়ী উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৩।

Religious institutions Mosque 580, temple 21, church 9, sacred place 2. Noted religious institutions: temple of Shree Shree Gaurangobari at Khetur (1582), Ahle Hadith Jami Mosque (1949), Premtali Jami Mosque (1940), Faradpur Jami Mosque (1950), Kanthalbaria Sheikherpara Jami Mosque (1960), mazar of Premtali Shah Jangir, mazar of Jahanabad Shah Mohiuddin, mazar of Sultanganj Shah Nazar, Jaina Temple at Maguile, Shree Shree Kheturdham Tirtha.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 46.3%; male 46.0%, female 46.6%. Educational institutions: college 12, secondary school 60, primary school 140, madrasa 20. Noted educational institutions: Matikata Adarsha Degree College, Godagari School and College (1905), Godagari High School (1948), Adarsha Primary School (1913).

Newspapers and periodicals Periodical: Barendri.

Cultural organisations Library 4, club 50, cinema hall 1, playground 1.

Main sources of income Agriculture 69.98%, non-agricultural labourer 3.95%, industry 0.57%, commerce 11%, transport and communication 1.99%, service 4.61%, construction 1.15%, religious service 0.16%, rent and remittance 0.27% and others 6.32%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 42.39%, landless 57.61%; agricultural landowner: urban 42.92% and rural 42.31%.

Main crops Paddy, jute, wheat, black gram, sugarcane, gram, masuri (lentil), vegetables.'

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Aush paddy, sesame, mustard, kaun, linseed, rai, watermelon.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, litchi, wood-apple, palm.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Dairy 9.

Communication facilities Pucca road 372 km, semi-pucca road 12 km, mud road 771 km; railway 19 km; waterway 15 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, horse carriage, bullock cart.

Noted manufactories Rice mill, printing press, welding factory.

Cottage industries Blacksmith, potteries, brass and metal work, bamboo and cane work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 26, fairs 10, most noted of which are Godagari, Bidirpur, Premtali, Mahishalbari, Railbazar, Kankan and Rajbari hats; Premtali Khetur Mela, Sultan Shah Mela, Kankan Hat Mela, Lalitnagar Mela, Godagari Mela.

Main exports Paddy, wheat, black gram, masuri (lentil), mango, jackfruit, vegetables. '

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 45.9% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 82.7%, tap 13.5% and others 3.8%.

Sanitation 25.7% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 52.8% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 21.5% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, satellite clinic 1, family planning centre 9, hospital 2.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa, proshika, Vision, caritas, thengamara mahila sabuj sangha. [AKM Kaisaruzzaman]

References Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics; Cultural survey report of Godagari Upazila 2007.