Bandar Shahi Mosque

Sonarong (means golden color) is a lovely village at Tongibari Upazila of Munshiganj district. This village belong a beautiful "Moth(মঠ)"(a place for praying by Hindu religious people) which is known as "Sonarong Jora Moth" (সোনারং জোড়া মঠ) ("twin moth"). It is used to call twin moth/temple, because it has two towers side by side. It may be around 150 feet high from the ground. There is a large pond just in front of the Moth. This moth is not functioning now a days. Interviewing local people we came to know that, there are no praying activities take place in this moth. Every side of the moth is covered with trees and that gave a lovely golden and green color's illusional view of the moth.

The larger moth was made for "Shiva"(Hindu God), and made during 1843, and the smaller one for "Kali"(Hindu Goddess), and made during 1886. It was built by a Hindu merchant named "Rupchand" (রূপচাঁদ) From stone inscriptions fixed over the temple’s entrance.

The two towers of the moth are not equal sized. One is much larger than another one. The larger tower has hundreds of holes at the top of it, and each hole is occupied by parrots. Visitors may observe hundreds of parrots from the place, and they are making sweet sound together all the day long. During the breeding season, the top of the moth become green for the numerous numbers of parrots. Both the towers of the moth are ornamented nicely with different types of leafs motif and blind alcoves.

Architectural Features:

Two temples stand side by side on a single masonry platform surrounded by a moat on three sides and an access path on the eastern side.The western temple, loftier than the eastern one, is about 15m high over the square sanctum, and measures 5.35m x 5.35m and has a 1.90m wide veranda. A low hemispherical dome covers the square sanctuary, over which rises an octagonal sikhara(শিখর) crowned by the usual pinnacle with kalasa (কলস) finials. This terminates in a trident fixed with an iron rod. The outer surface of the sikhara is decorated with a semi-circular arched pattern in plaster, which is repeated on all sides. The entire sikhara is dotted with three pigeonholes under each arch pattern. The main sanctuary has two archways, one each on the south and west sides, flanked by arched panels on both sides,and a pattern of three arches on the other two sides. The western entrance consists of a two-centered arch. The top of the archway is decorated with a frieze of blind merlons. In front of the sanctum, the veranda is covered with a flat roof supported on columns, It has three arched openings on the south, one each on its east and west side.

It is one of the important historical & archaeological places in Munshiganj District. Very recently,renovation work is on go,undoubtedly a good initiative to protect this site from further destruction.

Previously, the actual color of Khelaram Datar Kotha (খেলারাম দাতার কোঠা) was reddish (first three photographs added). But after a renovation done by the Department of archaeology, it is colored white now.

Possibly the most intriguing, interesting and uniquely confusing archeological structures of Nawabganj is the Khelaram Daata’r Kotha, which has recently been renovated. Yet they have not put up a sign board describing the building.

It is confusing, who was Khelaram? What was he known for? What is this building all about? What is the story behind it? When was it built? One could come up with several such questions, but apparently there isn’t much available documentation. It’s hardly possibly to rely on local folklore, as that is far more fiction than facts. To start with some confusion, some say the name of the founder of this structure was Khelaram Dutta, Banglapedia mentions him as Khelaram Dada, while the locals say he was known as Khelaram Daata.

According to Banglapedia he was a Zamindar, but the locals claim he was a dacoit. Since Banglapedia mentions nothing about him apart from naming him as Zamindar Khelaram Dada. So, there isn’t any other way except relating oral history along with the information of Banglapedia.

Some 200 years ago, there lived a ferocious dacoit named Khelaram, who was dreaded by the rich, but loved by the poor, because similar to Robin Hood, he generously donated much of his spoils from each mission amongst the poor people. Hence he was known as “Daata” the beneficent. But he still retained quite a bit and needed to store the loot. So he built this structure consisting of many rooms just overnight (within a short time). The building had five floors (it now has only two) and the roof had a large tank. There still is a large pond nearby. Poor people had to come to this pond to bathe, and anything they asked for was granted.

Oral History Or Myth :

Khelaram was extremely obedient to his mother. She once wanted to drink some milk and eat some ripened bananas, so Khelaram arranged the rooftop tank to be filled to the brim with ripened bananas and pure milk, so she could swim there and eat and drink to her heart’s content. But one day something Khelaram did severely angered his mother. She sternly rebuked and cursed him and then left for a bath in the pond. But as soon as she left the building, three floors of the building simply sank into the ground, leaving only the top two floors to be seen over the surface. Khelaram was not seen any more from then. Some believe he got trapped in one of the lower floors. Some believe he drowned in the pond, trying to save his mother. Within a short time, all his belongings got stolen, leaving behind just an empty house.

Sonakanda Fort (সোনাকান্দা দুর্গ) a Mughal river-fort located on the eastern bank of the Shitalakshya (শীতলক্ষ্যা) at port area. A group of river forts, constructed by the Mughals, guarded the water routes to Dhaka and other places of strategic importance and the Sonakanda Fort is one of them. The fort, under the protection of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, has been restored and repaired several times. The defensive walls and the massive artillery platform are still in existence. It is quadrangular in plan,measuring 86.56 m × 57.0 m and surrounded by a 1.06 m thick brick-wall, 3.05 meter in height, with inner and intermediate bastions.

The wall is built solid at the bottom. There is a circular artillery platform with a staircase on the west side, which leads up to the raised artillery platform to be entered by a five-foil arched gateway. The artillery platform, meant for a big calibre cannon aiming at the attackers coming up the river, is a new feature of the Mughal river forts in Bengal.

The platform has two circles of which the inner is 15.70m and the outer is 19.35m in diameter respectively. It is 6.09m in height and surrounded by walls. The corner bastions on both sides of the western wing are wider than those of the eastern wing, which are 4.26m, while the two on the western wing are 6.85m in diameter. The fort has two main parts; one is a fortified rampart wall of enormous dimension, which has numerous wide and narrow loopholes. And the other part, the most important one, is a raised outwork on the western face. Excepting the artillery platform, there is no trace of any permanent structure within the fortification walls. All round, the walls are crowned by machicolated merlons, which are on average one metre high.

The fort is provided with a single entrance gate on the north. The arched gateway is placed within a rectangular frame and both the sides are decorated with several plastered panels. The lofty arch of the entrance gateway is of the four-centred variety. There are four corner bastions. Unlike the bastions of the forts at Hajiganj and Idrakpur the bastions of this fort are octagonal in plan.

The fort is not dated by any inscription. Though the construction of this fort is attributed to Mir Jumla, there is no evidence for this. On stylistic similarities with other Mughal river-forts in and around Dhaka it is datable to the mid-17th century.

The Betila (বেতিলা) House in Manikganj was built about a century ago by Jyoti Babu (জ্যোতি বাবু) and Satya Babu (সত্য বাবু), a couple of affluent merchants involved in the trade of Jute, the golden fibre of Bangladesh. This palatial house is located in a remote area named Betila which is within the parameters of the modern day Manikganj proper. Explorers/travelers searching for heritage sites in Manikganj over the internet may come across several links of the famous Baliati Zamindar’s Palace but never find any links on Betila. This is primarily because the Betila House was not a Zamindar’s (Land Owner) palace, and secondly since it is located in such a remote area, people hardly know about it. Rich people of those era are known to build such palatial houses in remote areas and live lavish lives, even though they were not 'Zamindars' or royalty.

For someone looking for heritage sites, the Betila Mitra Union of Manikganj would be a fabulous one to come across. It’s situated in semi rural setting (being not too distant from urban areas) and doesn't seem particularly unique on first impression but once you begin to explore it's culture and heritage, beautiful places like the Betila House amongst several others begin to surface. The seemingly tame Betila Canal runs across the area, connecting two major rivers Kaliganga (কালিগঙ্গা) and Dhaleshwari (ধলেশ্বরী) but like most waterways of Bangladesh, one can anticipate its ferocity in full monsoon season when rising water levels which is also evident in the way it has eroded both its banks, specially at the lone bridge that was constructed some time back.

On both the banks one will come across a series of heritage buildings, the pinnacle being on the eastern bank, the Betila Palatial house surrounded by rich foliage. It’s a combined structure of two separate buildings both of which are two-storied, standing almost intact, side by side and with an expansive open field before them.