The Padma River, Bangladesh

The Padma (Podda) is a major trans-boundary river in Bangladesh. It is the downstream of the Ganges (Gangga) , which originates in the Himalayas. The Padma enters Bangladesh from India near Chapai 

Padma River_unlimited water

Nababganj. It meets the Jamuna near Aricha and retains its name, but finally meets with the Meghna near Chandpur and adopts the name 'Meghna' before flowing into the Bay of Bengal.

The Padma (Sanskrit for Lotus Flower) is numerously mentioned in Hindu Mythology. It is 120 kilometers long and from 4 to 8 km wide. Its maximum depth is 1,571 feet (479 m) and average depth is 968 feet (295 m).


Fishermen Preparing Their Net to Fish

Just west of Shibganj, the distributary Bhagirathi emerges and flows southwards as the Hooghly. After the point where the Bhagirathi branches off, the Ganges is officially referred to as the Padma and the river Bhagirathi uses the name of Ganga. Later the British started calling it the Hooghly River.



Further downstream, in Goalando, 2200 km away from the source, the Padma is joined by the mighty Jamuna (Lower Brahmaputra) and the resulting combination flows with the name Padma further east, to Chandpur. Here, the widest river in Bangladesh, the Meghna, joins the Padma, continuing as the Meghna almost in a straight line to the south, ending in the Bay of Bengal.

Rajshahi, a major city in western Bangladesh, is situated on the north bank of the Padma. The Padma forms 

Padma river is famous for Hilsha fish

the whole of the southern boundary of the district for a distance of about 90 miles. The name Padma is given to the lower part of the course of the Ganges below the point of the off-take of the Bhagirathi (India). Padma had, most probably, flown through a number of channels at different times. Some authors contend that each distributary of the Ganges in its deltaic part is a remnant of an old channel and that starting from the western-most one, the Bhagirathi (in West Bengal, India) each distributary of the east marks a position of a newer channel than the one to the west of it.