Birulia

Panam Nagar (পানাম নগর), ancient Painam, a locality now in Sonargaon upazila of Narayanganj district. It is about 2.5 kilometre to the north of Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Mograpara point. It is said to have been the site of Hindu capital city of Sonargaon emerging in the seventh decade of the thirteenth century. The Panam area formed part of the Muslim metropolis developed on the south of the old city, and perhaps constituted the place of residence of the early Muslim governors'. After the Mughal conquest of Sonargaon (1611) the Panam area was connected with the ruling metropolis by construction of highways and bridges. Panam still possesses three brick bridges belonging to the Mughal period: Panam Bridge, Dalalpur Bridge and Panamnagar Bridge.

The existence of these bridges, and the canals enclosing the site on three sides is indicative of its being a suburban area of the medieval city. The pucca road which leads from the Mograpara crossing on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in the direction of Panam extending up to the Neel-Kuthi looks like a dividing line between medieval Sonargaon and the present Panamnagar, the only surviving relics of the Panam area. The Panam township stands on the east of this road opposite Aminpur, and a one-arched humped bridge leads from the same road over a narrow canal to the main street of Panamnagar.

In all probability the present Panamnagar grew as a by-product of the commercial activities of the english east india company and of the Permanent Settlement. The East India Company established their factory in Panam for the purchase of muslin and other cotton fabrics. The Company, for the purchase of muslin, used to distribute annually to the weavers from their factory in Panam as much as a lakh of rupees as dadni (dadni system advance), and it is estimated that there were then 1400 families of Hindu and Muslim weavers in and around Panam.

Sonargaon developed into a center of trade in cotton fabrics, chiefly English piece goods, during the colonial period, and thereby grew the new township of Panamnagar. A group of Hindu talukdars, who came into being from among the traders in the nineteenth century, chose this site for their residence. The existing brick buildings of Panamnagar, obviously the residence of the Hindu merchant-talukdars, can be dated back to early nineteenth, and the later ones to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Panamnagar which developed in the nineteenth century, continued to flourish till the end of the Second World War.

Panamnagar, a unique township, stretched in a single street 5 meter wide on the average and 600 meter in length. All the buildings have the character of urban street front houses and are lined up on either side of this street which ends up at the Panam bazar. Fifty-two houses exist in dilapidated and disused condition having 31 in the north side of the street and 21 on the south. Panamnagar appears to be well protected by artificial canals all around. Two fairly wide canals run parallel to the street on its either side and joined by a narrow canal on the western side over which is the entrance bridge (Panamnagar Bridge). On the eastern side, the canal on the south swerves rightward and goes eastward crossing the north-south road that passes through the Panam bazar. The northern canal, the Pankhiraj Khal, runs eastward to meet the Meghna-Menikhali stream.

Teota Zamindar Palace (তেওতা জমিদার বাড়ী) is located at the Shibalaya (শিবালায়া) Upazila of Manikganj District. This palace is locally known as Teota Rajbari (তেওতা রাজবাড়ি) and Teota Zamindar Bari (তেওতা জমিদার বাড়ী). This palace is possibly over 300 years old. This old dilapidated palace was the home of two brothers named Babu Hemsankar Ray ( বাবু হেমসংকর রায়) and Babu Joy Sankar Ray (বাবু জয় সংকর রায়) who were the ruler of Teota. The whole premise has over 50 rooms. Currently those are occupied by the homeless people.

At the Western side of the building, there is a large pond and beside the pond a temple is located named as Noborotno Temple (নবরত্ন মন্দির). The temple is a four storied building having a glorious example of classical architecture.

The whole palace is situated just beside the bank of mighty river Jamuna. After a few miles from the palace premise, the river merged with another big river, Padma. The palace is a two storied building and from the roof you can easily see the Jamuna river.

This palace is the birth place of Promila Debi (প্রমীলা দেবী), the wife of our national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam (নজরুল ইসলাম). Poet first saw her in this palace when he came here to visit Promila's cousin-Dhiren Sen (ধীরেন সেন).

Traveling Nawabganj without paying a visit to Judge Bari and Ukil Bari (জজ বাড়ি এবং উকিল বাড়ি) (formerly known as Brojo Kutir) is nearly incomplete trip. Originally it was built as the residence of a Zamindar over a century ago, the Brojo Niketan was acquired by a judge in 1984, and henceforth became known locally as the judge bari, the residence of the judge.

Next door to the judge bari, on a corner of a sprawling playground made famous by the sheer attendance of Mahatma Gandhi in 1940, is another Zamindar’s house, which has been acquired by a lawyer, and thus taken the new name Ukil Bari.

In a small shrine between these two old palatial houses, one will come across a statue whose head has been knocked down, allegedly by the Pakistan Army during our Liberation War in 1971, supposedly of Gautama Buddha. A little inside the Ansar controlled areas, one would come across the Brojo Kutir - the older palace of the Zamindar, and yet another palatial house of Kokil Peyari. It has now turned into a local picnic spot.

There is a folk art and craft museum for the visitors & tourist travelling in Sonargaon. Sonargaon Folk Art and Craft Museum remains open from morning to afternoon (9 AM to 5 PM). Wednesday and the Thursday, this museum is closed for weekend. This is prosperous with several unique collection those you'll never find at any other place. Some are lost from our country, and only those are remains. The main museum building is placed at the "Sardar Bari". "Sardar Bari" was built by a Hindu Zamindar of Sonargaon in 1901. Alike the other Zamindar house of that period, this one also looks like Indian houses, but the shape of the house was looked like the European Palaces. The baroque decoration and the elaborated painting on the plaster of the building are really eye catching.

Lok Shilpa Jadughar (Folk Art and Craft Museum) of Sonargaon was established by Bangladeshi painter Joynul Abedin on March 12, 1975.

It will cost you 10 taka to enter the museum area. Its a vast area, and will take you lots of time to round the area. You'll find a art gallery of "Zainul Abedin" inside the museum area. There are two Exhibition Galleries inside the museum. Both of them consist of some status showing the local life of Bangladeshi people, for example farming, woman working etc. Also you'll find the miniature version of the several boats from my country, which are now a days vanished after competing with the mechanical vehicles.