Historical Places: Historical Places Of Rajshahi Division

Historical Places Of Rajshahi Division

Rajshahi Division is famous for many archeological and historical places like Mohastnangor, Puthia, Kantajee’s Temple, Choto Sona Masjid, Tajhat, Natore rajbari etc.

Tajhat

Tajhat is a historical place of Bangladesh, located in Tajhat, Rangpur. It has a nice Jamidarbari (Palace) which now has been turned into a museum. This museum is about 10 mins drive from Rangpur town.The palace in Tajhat, commonly known as Tajhat Rajbari was built by Maharaja Kumar Gopal Lal Roy in the beginning of the 20th century. He was a descendent of a Hindu khatari who emigrated from Punjab. He was a jeweler by profession. It is believed that from the conspicuous appearance of his Taj or jeweled crown his estate derived the name of Tajhat.

Mohasthangor
Mohasthangarh is one of the main attractions in north Bengal. It was the capital of Kingdom of the Mourjo, the Gupta and the Sen Dynasty.This is the ancient archeological and historical which was, established in 2500 BC.

Choto shona masjid
One of the most graceful monument of the Sultanate period is the Chhota Sona Masjid or Small Golden Mosque at Gaur in Rajshahi Built by one Wali Muhammad during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah (1493-1519).

Kantajees temple
Kantajee’s Temple is in Dinajpur district. It is the most ornate among the late medieval temples of Bangladesh is the Kantajee’s temple near Dinajpur town, which was established in the year 1722 by Ram Nath, son of Maharaja Pran Nath .

Paharpur Buddhist Monastery
Paharpur Buddhist Monastery is another tourist attraction of North Bengal. Paharpur is a small village 5 km. west of Jamalganj in the greater Rajshahi district. You can go to Paharpur from Jaipur district. Its only 10 km from Jaipur.
King Dharma Pal established Paharpur Buddhist Monastery in 7th century, which is the most important and the largest known monastery south of the Himalayas, has been excavated. The main Mandir is in the center of this Monastery. This 7th century archaeological find covers approximately an area of 27 acres of land.

The entire establishment, occupying a quadrangular court, measuring more than 900 ft. externally on each side, has high enclosure- walls about 16 ft. in thickness and from 12 ft. to 15 ft. height. With elaborate gateway complex on the north, there are 45 cells on the north and 44 in each of the other three sides with a total number of 177 rooms. The architecture of the pyramidal cruciform temple is profoundly influenced by those of South-East Asia, especially Myanmar and Java.

A small site-Museum built in 1956-57 houses the representative collection of objects recovered from the area, where you can see the statues of Buddha and Vishnu. The excavated findings have also been preserved at the Varendra Research Museum at Rajshahi. The antiquities of the museum include terracotta plaques, images of different gods and goddesses, potteries, coins, inscriptions, ornamental bricks and other minor clay objects.

Natore Rajbadi

situated in Natore, a district town about 48 km east of Rajshahi. Originally the residence of the Maharajas of Dighapatia. At present, it is used as the Uttara Ganabhavan or the Government House in the northern region.Dayaram Roy constructed the main fabric of the palace along with a few accessory wings around but Pramada Nath Roy rebuilt the whole palace complex from the debris after the devastating earthquake of 1897 had wrecked it.The extensive palace area occupies about 43 acres of land.

Kusumba Mosque

Kusumba Mosque is named after the village of Kusumba, under the Manda upazila of Naogaon district, on the west bank of the Atrai river. It was built during the period of Afghan rule in Bengal under one of the last Suri rulers Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah, by one Sulaiman who was probably a high ranking official. The inscription tablet in Arabic (only the word 'built by' is in Persian) dating the building to 966 AH (1558-59 AD) is fixed over its eastern central entrance. The mosque, presently protected by the Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh, was badly damaged during the earthquake of 1897.

Bagha Mosque

Bagha Mosque situated at Bagha, about 25 miles southeast of Rajshahi town, survives in a fairly good state of preservation. The mosque was built on the western bank of a fairly large tank within a brick-walled compound, 48.77m square. The mosque compound could be entered by two old arched gateways - one on the north and the main one on the south comprising a simple oblong curved structure with a turret on either side.

Puthia : Rajshahi

Puthia an upazila in Rajshahi district. Puthia zamindari created by the Mughals in the early 17th century is one of the oldest estates of Bengal. There is a tradition that Nilambar received the title of Raja from Emperor jahangir (1605-1627 AD). A partition of the estate took place in 1744 when the eldest son received a 51/2-anna share while the three others received 31/2-anna each. The Puthia Raj estate maintained its existence till the abolition of the zamindari system under the East Pakistan Estate Acquisition Act of 1950.

Puthia Rajbari

The two-storied Puthia Rajbari, which is the most notable structure in the area faces a four-storeyed large pyramidal dol mancha on the north, across an open ground and presents an imposing 60.96m frontage. It has two symmetrical projected wings at the east and west ends while its central part, about 15.24m wide, accommodates a grand portal. A 3.05m wide verandah runs along the front and provides access to the large halls behind. The balcony roof is supported on three graceful semi-Corinthian fluted columns, rising up to the upper floor.The central bay is relieved with a triangular pediment and the parapet decorated with delicate floral plaster relief. The broad verandahs of the terminal bays on the east and the west are carried on four lofty fluted Corinthian columns, similarly shooting up to the upper floor ceiling. This grand palace was constructed by Rani hemantakumari devi in 1895 AD in honour of her mother-in-law Maharani saratsundari devi.