মাধনগর রথ বাড়ী

Few of the attractions in Bangladesh are as stately, large and beautiful as the Tajhat Zamindar Palace. This historical palace was built near the beginning of the 20th century. It is situated roughly three kilometers south east of Rangpur’s city center and currently serves as a museum for the public.

The front of this impressive edifice is about 76 meters long and two stories high. A ribbed conical dome supported by a tall octagonal neck is located in the center of the roof and crowns the palace. These are just some of the extraordinary features that continue to attract visitors from around the world to this small corner of the globe. The incredible architectural skill that went into the building and design of this 100-year-old palace is truly something special and visitors often find themselves stunned by the craftsmanship that is found in this amazing structure. It is hard to believe that all this, and the surrounding city, all started as a simple bit of trade involving hats.

Sometime during the 18th century a man by the name of Manna Lal Roy traveled from Punjab in India as a cap or hat merchant.There was a massive cap bazaar where trade was regularly conducted about half a kilometer southwest of Mahiganj and this was where he set up shop. The area was known appropriately as taj (cap) hat (bazaar) and the name has always stuck. Manna Lal Roy was a shrewd businessman who managed to amass quite a bit of wealth through his cap sales. In fact he became so rich that he was able to loan many of the viceroys in the region money during the famine of 1770-1790. This gave him immense power and influence and eventually led to him becoming the founder of the Tajhat dynasty. In the 1900s, one of his indirect heirs, GobindaLal Roy, became the last viceroy and Raja of Tajhat. GobindaLal Roy was the most educated viceroy to ever take his position and under his authority Tajhat flourished. It is thought that the Tajhat Palace was built under his rule.

There are a number of features of the palace that testify to the incredible wealth of the Lal Roy viceroy. Apart from the building’s immense size, the wide stairs that climb to the second story on the front of the building are made of marble. Beautiful pictures can be found on doors and windows.

Munshiganj, or Bikrampur as it was formerly known as home to a number of rich landlords and merchants, who lived in palatial houses, built on large estates. Most of these perished in course of time as the mighty Padma River devoured most of Bikrampur. Of all that remain in today’s Munshiganj, the largest is the house at Abdullahpur, known as Tokani Pal House (টোকানী পাল বাড়ি). There isn’t enough source to know about who built this house, but Tokani Pal, an elderly merchant from Barisal, bought this 7 acre estate and moved in here sometime in the early 1890s. His second wife Nabanga Sundary and all six sons from his two marriages accompanied him.

The estate now consists of 11 buildings and six ponds. The sprawling gardens have hundreds of trees – fruit bearing, medicinal, or for wood itself. And there were once several hundreds of flowering plants. But when Tokani arrived, the estate was in a mess. Kamini Pal, the eldest son of Tokani,took charge of cleaning up the estate. He chose a place to set up a temple, dedicated to Radha-Shyam, of whom they had been followers for generations. By this time, the masons of Abdullahpur had made a name in craftsmanship and expertise, and Arfan Ostagar was the most revered of all. He was hired, for a daily fee of five quarters and a pack of tobacco. His designer had to be paid an additional three quarters. A 15X6 feet room was planned to build, with a wide sprawling varanda, where followers could sing devotional songs every evening. The room would have a large platform, on which would rest a large metal statue of Radha-Shyam. The exterior wall would be decorated with fine ceramic designs. Once completed, the temple became a marvel, people from far and wide came over to see.

The Pal’s principal business was surrounded around the Kamala river port of Bikrampur, which was known as the Second Kolkata. Betelnuts, mustard, lentils etc would arrive from Barisal or Chandpur, and would be traded with Kolkata. Almost 20,000 laborers worked daily at this port, where the second largest wholesalers were the Pals. They set up warehouses at places as far as Barisal, Jhalokathhi or Shwarupkathhi, or Chandpur. Kamini Pal also became the most prominent money-lender. Dwarkanath became a prominent dealer in Kerosene oil. Other brothers also chipped in here and there. Business for the Pals was running well.

After the Partition of India, a large section of the family moved to Kolkata. Those who remained to protect the family businesses, soon found it difficult, as business with Kolkata became complicated. They had to explore new business avenues, but that wasn’t too easy.

In 1971, Hindus were being tortured or killed, their businesses were being shut down, their houses were being torched. The Pal estate being protected with a strong high boundary wall became a safe refuge, not only for members of this family, but for members of extended families, and also for friends and their families. About 500 people had found safe shelter here, until one dark night, when the Pakistani Army entered the compounds, killed several family members, and set the main houses of fire. The entire clan moved to India through Agartala.

Almost two years later, Shashadhar Pal, the second son of Dwarkanath Pal, who by then was head of the clan, returned with his family. But by this time major parts of the estate had been grabbed and taken over by others. He tried to revive some of the businesses, but did not quite succeed. His family members went back to Kolkata, but he decided to stay back, reminiscing his childhood memories, and gradually selling off part of their properties. He lived either in one of the houses within this estate, or in the other Pal House, which also was built by his uncle Kamini Pal several decades ago. He passed away in the late 1990s.

In Cox’s Bazar, there is a newly built radar station, constructed by Japan. The station is under overseas development agreement. Cox's Bazar RADAR Station is discovered by Bangladesh Sea Beach Tourism Society. Bangladesh is a land which faces natural disasters every year. That's why Bangladesh is called the land of natural calamities.

The common natural disaster in our country are floods, storms, cyclones, drought and famine and in pre and post-monsoon season. Natural calamities cannot be prevented. Timely forecast from RADAR station could minimize damage of natural disaster.

Japan has been contributing to the improvement of meteorological services in Bangladesh since 1987 in terms of institutional strengthening of disaster management administration along with disaster management support during floods and cyclones. In this respect, Government of Japan assisted in replacing two radars located at Cox’s Bazar and Khepupara in 1987 with two modern S-band meteorological radars. In 2004, both the radar systems failed which made Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) incapable of locating cyclone centers or intensity of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal. This new project is designed to provide new radar stations in these two strategically important locations and JICA has been assigned to conduct the basic design study for implementing this project.

Project Components: 1. Replacement of the existing meteorological radar system at Cox's Bazar and Khepupara Meteorological Radar Stations 2. Satellite Communication Systems from Cox's Bazar and Khepupara Meteorological Radar Stations to the Storm Warning Centre (SXC) in Dhaka 3. Spare Parts for the existing meteorological microwave link 4. Construction of radar tower buildings at Cox's Bazar and Khepupara meteorological Radar Station

Expected Impacts: 1. BMD will have the ability to provide near real time cyclone information and warnings to the Prime Minister’s Office, Disaster management Bureau, media and other related agencies for effective disaster prevention countermeasures. 2. Strengthening of BMD's cyclone and weather monitoring capacity using a combination of meteorological satellite data and radar data from the new satellite and meteorological radar system 3. BMD's forecasting ability for Cox's Bazar district will be improved along with the accuracy of the meteorological information for the Cox's Bazar Airport, fishing trawlers and small boats which will ensure prompt issuance of warning signals.

The Old House at Gokorno Gram is a small building located beside a village pond and local say this as Barrister Bari (ব্যারিস্টার বাড়ী). You may not find much information about this old building from the internet. With the help of the local people beside the house, you can enter inside the house. Right now, no one lives there. Few of the rooms are still firm these days, but others are very risky in condition. This old house located at the Gokorno village (গোকর্ণ গ্রাম) of Nasirnagar Upazila of Brahmanbaria District.

[We need more detail information of this spot. If you have more information and photos, please be advised to add and share in our website. Your name will be published as a Content Contributor]

পুকুরের পাশেই অবস্থিত এই ছোট বাড়িটিকে স্থানীয়রা ব্যারিস্টারবাড়িও বলে থাকে। বাড়িটির আশেপাশে বসবাসকারী স্থানীয়দের সহায়তায় আপনি এর অভ্যন্তরে ঢুকতে পারবেন। বর্তমানে এই বাড়িতে কেউ বসবাস করে না। বাড়িটির কয়েকটি কক্ষও এখনও মজবুত অবস্থায় থাকলেও বাদবাকি কক্ষগুলো খুবই ঝুঁকিপূর্ণ অবস্থায় রয়েছে।