Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[name] => Alexander Castle
[post_id] => 21791
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/alexander-castle/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/P_20151013_170743_1_p-300x169.jpg
[post_content] =>
Alexander Castle is one of the most amazing and renowned structure in Mymensingh District. It was built by Maharaja Suryo Kanta Acharya Chowdhury(মহারাজ সুর্যকান্ত আচার্য চৌধুরী) in 1879 in the memory of the 1st zilla magistrate of Mymensingh Mr. N .S Alexander at the time of Jubili festival. It covers an area of 27.155 acres.
It is a nice small archaic building having two Greek statue at both sides of the front gate. Though the arms of those statues are currently broken, but still those looks great. The whole building is placed over a high plinth, probably to avoid the flood from the nearness river.
It cost 45000 taka at that time. Alexander Castle is a two storied building made by metals and woods in a high concrete base. This building was used as a rest house for the guests of Maharaja Maharaja Soshi Kanta Acharya Chowdhury. Many great personalities of the world stayed at this castle when visiting Mymensingh city. Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore arrived in Mymensingh around the midday of 15 February 1926. He stayed in the Alexander Castle as a guest for 4days. Mahatma Gandhi also stayed in this castle in 1926.
Lord carzon, Chittaranjan Das, Nawab Sir Salimullah, Kamal Pasha also visited Alexander Castle. This house was decorated by royal furnitures and items at that time. There is a big field in front of this house. You can see two fascinating silver statue which makes the place more beautiful. There is also a big garden and a pond still remains behind the castle. It is said that Maharaja used to keep big cats in his garden so he surrounded the garden with big still cages.At present this house is being used as library of teachers training college(male) in Mymensingh.
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[1] => Array
(
[name] => {:en}Boro Kuthi{:}{:bn}বড়কুঠি{:}
[post_id] => 2989
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/boro-kuthi/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/offroadbangladeshlogo2-300x178.png
[post_content] => {:en}
Boro Kuthi is located in Shaheb bazar of Rajshahi town. An attempt was taken by Rajshahi City Corporation for turning the historical Dutch building into a heritage sight. There are 12 rooms here and it is 2 storied. Dutch and British traders used it for trading silk. After demise of Nawab Sirajud Dowla in 1757 it was bought by East Indian Company. Later it was sold to Robert Watson and Company. After 1947 partition Government used it as their supply center. In 1953 it was taken over by Rajshahi University.
{:}{:bn}
বড়কুঠি রাজশাহী শহরের সাহেব বাজারে অবস্থিত। এই দোতালা ভবনটিতে ১২টি কক্ষ আছে। ডাচ ও ইংরেজ বনিকরা ভবনটি রেশমের বাণিজ্য করতে ব্যবহার করত। ১৭৫৭ সালে নবাব সিরাজ উদ দৌলার মৃত্যুর পর ইস্ট ইন্ডিয়া কোম্পানি ভবনটি কিনে নেয়। পরবর্তীতে এটি রবার্ট ওয়াটসন এন্ড কোম্পানির কাছে বিক্রি করা হয়। ১৯৪৭ সালে দেশ বিভাগের পর সরকার এটি তাদের সাপ্লাই সেন্টার হিসেবে ব্যাবহার করে। ১৯৫৩ সালে রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ভবনটি অধিগ্রহন করে। রাজশাহী সিটি কর্পোরেশন প্রচেষ্টা নিয়েছিল ডাচদের স্মৃতি বিজরিত এই ভবনটিকে একটি ঐতিহ্যবাহী স্থানে পরিণত করতে।
{:}
)
[2] => Array
(
[name] => Ghoshal Bari Zamindar Palace
[post_id] => 11775
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/ghoshal-bari-zamindar-palace/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IMG_20150527_135541718-300x169.jpg
[post_content] =>
Ghoshal Bari Zamindar Palace, About 150 years old (now rebuilt) zamindar bari is located just nearby the Radha-Krisna temple with its outstanding view at Khilpara, South Betka village, Tongibari Upazila, Munshiganj District.
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)
[3] => Array
(
[name] => Rangpur Carmichael College
[post_id] => 18930
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/rangpur-carmichael-college/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Carmichael-College-8-300x200.jpg
[post_content] =>
Carmichael College is a part of heritage and history of Uttar Bongo (northern Bangladesh). It is indeed one of the oldest colleges in the country.
Rangpur Carmichael College (রংপুর কারমাইকেল কলেজ) is one of the most prestigious colleges of northern Bangladesh. It has a campus of almost 300 acres and is possibly the largest in the country, in terms of its area. It was established in 1916, with the generous help of several landlords, including Gopal Lal Roy Bahadur, Mohima Ranjan Roy, Babu Monidra Chandra Roy, Radha Ballav Saha and others. It boasts a large lush green campus with several uniquely designed buildings.
The first three colleges of the country were named only after the district headquarters where they were located (Dhaka College, 1841, Chittagong College, 1869, & Rajshahi College, 1873). Similarly this new institution could have been named Rangpur College. However, several institutions that had been founded in the districts of Barisal (Brojo Mohan College, 1884), Sylhet (Murari Chand College, 1892), Pabna (Edward College, 1898), Comilla (Victoria College, 1899), Mymensingh (Ananda Mohan College, 1901) & Khulna (Braja Lal College, 1902) had taken names after their patrons. So when Lord Baron Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael of Skirling, the then First Governor of Bengal, formally inaugurated the institution, it naturally took up the name Rangpur Carmichael College.
From the outset, this was under the governance of Calcutta University, and was only permitted to teach Arts subjects, both at Higher Secondary and Graduation level. Lord Lytton, the Governor of Bengal visited the college in 1922. He was amazed at the beauty of the campus, the fascinating infrastructure, and the quality of education that was being offered here. He immediately permitted the college to begin teaching science subjects. The same year, Calcutta University also permitted the college to begin graduation courses in Bangla, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Economics & Mathematics. Bachelor of Science degrees were introduced in 1925.
The college currently offers graduation courses in 17 disciplines and post graduation courses in 15 subjects. From the 2011-12 academic year, the college reopened the Higher Secondary courses, having put that on hold for 14 years.
Rangpur Carmichael College was under the purview of Calcutta University till 1947, Dhaka University during 1947-1952, Rajshahi University during 1953-1992, and the National University thereafter.
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The splendid building still stands tall along the bank of the Kumar River beckoning the people passing by it to have a look of its grandeur and magnificence. None can resist the temptation of taking a look at the captivating old structure when one passes by it.
In the absence of proper maintenance and renovation, weeds have grown in and around the house while the mossy bricks are crumbling down from the decaying structure. The house has lost much of its charm of terracotta due to the authorities’ negligence. Locals have already taken away many of the bricks, plaques, wooden doors and windows. The house has become a safe haven for drug addicts and gamblers due to lack of proper initiatives for its preservation and maintenance. Local people use the building as their cowshed and it has turned into the public toilet.
