Ma-Thin's well

One of the frequently visited site in Teknaf is Ma-Thin's well at the compound of Teknaf upazila. Ma-Thin was the daughter of the Magh king. Accompanied by many of her friends, she used to come to the well, the only one of its kind in the area at that time. Dhiraj Bhattacharya, the officer-in-charge of the police station and a handsome young man, fell in love with her. He wanted to marry her but the king initially did not agree to the proposal because Dhiraj was a Hindu and a Magh girl was not supposed to marry outside her community. The king, however, could not refuse his daughter and her lover and finally gave his consent. The message reached the father of Dhiraj at calcutta and made him furious. He, in turn, stressed that a Hindu could not marry a Magh girl and recalled his son through a telegram urging him to return to his ailing father. Dhiraj left for Calcutta promising Ma-Thin that he would return very soon. Ma-Thin waited for him for months. At one stage, she stopped believing that Dhiraj would ever come back. Despite the insistence of her parents, relatives and friends Ma-Thin did not take any food or even a drop of water until she breathed her last. The well still remains as a memorial to this great story of love and a tragedy that has its origin in differences in culture and religion.