Autumn’s white wonder unfolds on the Padma char

Fleecy white clouds drift across the deep blue autumn sky while thousands of Kash flowers sway gently in the breeze below, creating a breathtaking landscape on a vast char of the Padma River in Shadarpur upazila of Faridpur.

The scene appears to bring poet Nirmalendu Goon’s celebrated lines to life — “Autumn, the queen, opens her veil of Kash flowers and dances behind the Kash forest.”

At the char near Akot Bazar in Akoterchar Union of the upazila, mile after mile of dense Kash forest has emerged in a spectacular display of white. The flowers, reaching waist height in some places and towering above people in others, sway in the breeze beneath the clear autumn sky, resembling a living painting.

The natural spectacle has already drawn hundreds of visitors and nature lovers from different areas. The char takes on an especially enchanting appearance in the afternoon when the soft golden light of the setting sun falls on the white flowers, creating a serene and almost dreamlike atmosphere.

Away from the noise and fatigue of urban life, visitors come with families and friends to walk through the narrow paths of the Kash forest, take photographs and capture videos and reels on their mobile phones.

Many visitors say the riverside Kash forest offers a refreshing escape from the pressures of city life and an opportunity to reconnect with nature.

Local elderly residents said Kash forests, once a familiar feature of Shadarpur’s landscape, have gradually disappeared from the mainland as settlements expanded, agriculture spread and development activities increased.

The char has now given the disappearing tradition a new lease of life, they said, with the vast white expanse adding greatly to the area’s natural beauty.

Local residents and visitors, however, have urged authorities to protect the Kash forest from indiscriminate grazing, neglect and other human activities.

They believe that with proper conservation by the government or local authorities, the Padma char could emerge as one of Faridpur’s major natural attractions during every autumn, preserving its distinctive beauty for years to come.

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