The river Karnaphuli is considered to be what holds the port city, ie the life of Chattogram.

Originating in the Lushai hills in India's Mizoram, the river travels through 270km of Chattogram Hill Tracts and Chattogram district before falling into the Bay of Bengal.

At a time when road and bridge communications were not up to the standard for Chattogram city, the Karnaphuli played a pivotal role in transporting people and commercial goods by boats.

After the construction of a railway bridge over the river in Kalurghat area in 1931 -- which was later converted into a rail and road bridge in 1962 -- it connected the city with southern upazilas of the district as well as other districts, including Bandarban and Cox's Bazar.

Later, two other bridges were constructed over the river in Chaktai area in 1990 and 2010 respectively.

There are two legends about the naming of the Karnaphuli. One of them can be found in the book "A Fly on the Wheel" by Thomas Herbert Lewin, which suggests the ancient name of the river was "Kaincha Khal".

Once a prince and a princess were enjoying a moonlit boat ride on the Kaincha Khal. They were admiring the beauty of the full moon when the flower tucked in her hair by the prince fell into the water.

The grief-stricken princess immediately jumped into the river to retrieve the flower. Unfortunately, she was carried away by the fast-flowing current and vanished.

The prince dived into the river to rescue her but failed. Out of sorrow, he drowned himself in the river to unite with the princess in the afterlife. That is how the name Karnaphuli came to be -- "karnaphul", meaning the flower adorning the ear.

There have been several pieces of literature -- both prose and poetry -- based on these legends. According to another legend, a beautiful highland princess, along with her friends, went to take a bath in the Kaincha Khal. After diving into the water, the princess discovered that her "Karnaphul" was lost.

She had to give up after multiple attempts to find it. After a few days, she passed away due to illness, although it was widely believed that what killed her was her attachment to the lost piece of jewellery.

Yet another legend tells a different story altogether.

During the eighth and ninth centuries, Arab merchants used to bring "Karanphol" (cloves) to Chattogram Port from the hilly areas of Kamarup and Sylhet to export those to Europe. Once, an Arab merchant was bringing "Karanphol" by boat through the river.

However, the boat capsized on the way, and eventually, the river came to know as Karnaphuli.