Kansat Mango Market

Chapainawabganj is the mango district of Bangladesh, its orchards producing the varieties the country waits for each summer, khirsapat, langra, fazli, ashwina, each with its own few weeks, and Kansat is where the crop is traded: through the harvest the market runs from before dawn with hundreds of cycle-vans and carts bringing baskets in from the orchards, buyers from Dhaka and beyond negotiating by the maund, and lorries loading through the day. It is one of the great seasonal markets of the country and functions like a working spectacle. The khirsapat mango of the district carries a geographical indication. Outside the season the market is an ordinary bazaar and the point of the trip is gone.

What you actually see

• Hundreds of cycle-vans of mangoes - the crop arriving from before dawn.
• Trade by the maund - buyers and growers negotiating in bulk.
• The named varieties in sequence - khirsapat, langra, fazli through the season.
• Orchards around the roads - the trees the district lives on.

When to go

Mid-May to July, in the harvest, with early morning the time to see the trading; each variety has its own window within it. Half a day. Outside the season there is nothing.

Honest expectations

It is only worth it in season and at the right hour. The market is chaotic, muddy and entirely functional. Foreign visitors are a curiosity and draw attention. The journey from Rajshahi is long.

Nearby

The Choto Sona mosque and Gaur remains are south-west; Chapainawabganj lies east.