Monu Mia Zamindar House

Horipur Boro Bari, also known as Horipur Zamindar Bari is a mammoth mansion that is located at the Horipur village of Nasirnagar Upazila of Brahmanbaria district. This is exactly adjacent to the bank of the river Titash. From outside it’s hard to get any essence of its antiquity and beauty. This is a capacious mansion having plenty of rooms at the both floor.

From the inscription from a Moth near the area it is found that the owner was Zamindar Krishna Prasad Ray Choudhury (জমিদার কৃষ্ণ প্রসাদ রায় চৌধুরী) who built that around 1343 of Bengali Calendar. At the front side it has a Ghat for taking bath (also may be for taking part in a family gossip during after noon).

Right now, the situation of the building is not good. This is now occupied by lot of poor families (Hindu people from their dress up and religious practice). Due to lack of care, most of the walls are decaying. It’s a two stored building and few portion of the second floor is risky. But still people are living at the ground floor.

The mammoth size, stylish architecture, etc simply implies that how sumptuous the owner was. Though most of the parts are diminished but still there is a portion of a Pasha Ghor exists at the second floor. Probably the owner used to play Pasha with his mates. May be it was a dance floor where the rich Baijee (Dictionary: Dancer) used to perform every night.

Since this is exactly beside the river Titash, lot of people use to visit here with a boat as a part of their picnic. As per the local, this type of picnic party uses to visit frequently during the weekends. And still people from Dhaka know very little about this place. You can explore the river after visiting this old Zamindar Bari. But you may not find any boat for hiring around there. Most of those are the private boats. May be you can request them to use for a while. Just about few hundreds meter apart from the building you'll find a cremation place which was built by the same owner.

Nagarpur Zamindar Bari (নাগরপুর জমিদার বাড়ী) is located at the Nagarpur Upazila of Tangail district. This place is located in an interesting area. It has river Dhaleswari at the eastern side, and the River Jamuna at the western side. It is believed that there were a naval route between the Kolkata and Nagarpur that time. Now the Zamindari system has vanished and it took that route along with that.

The Zamindari of Nagarpur was established during the 19th century by the Jodunath Chowdhury. It's right now a massive complex which is known as Choudhury Bari as well. They are very helpful towards the people of their area. One of the decedent from the family named Suresh Chandra Ray Choudhury was the founder secretary of the famous club East Bengal from this Sub-continent.

Most of the buildings from the complex are in ruin, and few are in good condition. Using those good ones the government has established Nagarpur Mohila Degree College. If you enter inside the dilapidated section of the complex, you can find a hideout for the bats. There are probably thousands of bats rest and start flying away after people’s presence, which create a sharp wind flow from the flapping of the wings of the bats.

It is not sure but people believed that they have started their Zamindari somewhere around 1890. First Zamindar (জমিদার) was Kalichoron Shaha (কালিচরণ সাহা). Beside their Land Lordship, they have conducted trading related to Jute and Salt. They were the owner of huge land properties from different part of Bangladesh. During country division and war, most of them moved into India. Only very few are living at Tangail. Their attractive edifices are now become a tourist spot. Since they were rich, people says they have built those building before establishing their Zamindari (জমিদারী). Mohera Zamindar Bari has several main buildings. Each of those are presented below with short description.

Chowdhury Lodge (চৌধুরী লজ): After entering the Zamindar mansion premise through the main gate, Choudhury Lodge is the first building that you'll find. It’s a pink colored building having Roman/Greek styled pillars at the front side. The rich ornate building is having corrugated at the roof from inside.

Its a two stored building having a garden in front of it. This building is beautiful from the back side too. There is a playground for the kids available there.

Ananda Lodge (আনন্দ লজ): In my opinion, Ananda lodge is the most stylish building from the entire premise. This building has a touch of white and blue. It has eight columns in front of the building. Most attractive part of the building is the small hanging balcony at second floor. It seems like someone like Juliet used to pass her afternoon there. This building has a lovely garden at front side.

Moharaj Lodge (মহারাজ লজ): This is a pink colored building having byzantine design. Similar to other buildings it has 6 columns at the front side. The stair in front of the building has a curved railing which just increased its beauty.

Similar to other buildings it is a two storied building having a garden at front. Behind the garden has a tennis court. The Moharaj Lodge and the Ananda Lodge are adjoining.

Kalichoron Lodge (কালিচরণ লজ): This building is built during the last portion of the Jomidari Era. Thats why this one is looking different than other three. It is having more rooms compare to any others from the premise. Architecture of the building is somewhat similar to the colonial era buildings. The shape of the building is like the letter 'U' in English alphabet. During the noon-afternoon, you'll find a play of light and shadow for that shape from the inside of the building.

Other Edifices (অন্যান্য ভবন): Beside the attractive arhitectured buildings, the Zomidar premise has other buildings named as Kachari Bhobon(কাচারী ভবন), Nayeb Bhobon(নায়েব ভবন), Rani Bhobon(রানী মহল), etc. Also you'll find several large ponds around the premise. Those are named as Bishaka Shagor, Poshra Shagor, etc. 1. Kachari Bhobon(কাচারী ভবন) 2. Nayeb Bhobon(নায়েব ভবন)

নিশ্চিত হওয়া না গেলেও স্থানীয়রা বিশ্বাস করেন যে এই অঞ্চলে জমিদারী প্রথার আরম্ভ হয়েছিল ১৮৯০ সালের দিকে। কালীচরণ সাহা ছিলেন এখানকার প্রথম জমিদার। এখানকার জমিদাররা বাংলাদেশের বিভিন্ন প্রান্তে বিপুল পরিমান ভুসম্পত্তির মালিক ছিল এবং জমিদারী করার পাশাপাশি তাঁরা এখানে পাট ও লবনের ব্যাবসাও করত। দেশ বিভাগ এবং স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধের সময় বেশীরভাগ জমিদার ভারতে চলে যান তবে টাঙ্গাইলে কিছু জমিদার এখনও বাস করছে। তাঁদের আকর্ষণীয় প্রাসাদগুলো বর্তমানে পর্যটন স্পটে পরিনত হয়েছে। যেহেতো জমিদারেরা ধনী ছিলেন তাই স্থানীয়রা মনে করেন এসব জমিদারবাড়ি জমিদারী প্রথা চালু হওয়ার পূর্বেই নির্মাণ করা হয়েছিল।

মহেরা জমিদার বাড়িতে কয়েকটি ভবন রয়েছে। নিম্নে এসব ভবনের বর্ণনা প্রদান করা হলঃ

চৌধুরী লজঃ মূল ফটক দিয়ে জমিদারবাড়ির সীমানায় প্রবেশ করলে সর্বপ্রথম চৌধুরী লজ আপনার চোখে পরবে। গোলাপি রঙের এই ভবনের সামনের দিকে রোমানশৈলীতে নির্মিত পিলার রয়েছে। চমৎকার নকশাখচিত এই ভবনের ভেতরের ছাদটি ঢেউ খেলানো। দোতলা এই ভবনের সামনে বাগান রয়েছে এবং শিশুদের খেলার মাঠ রয়েছে। এছাড়া ভবনের পেছনদিকটাও বেশ দৃষ্টিনন্দন।

আনন্দ লজঃ আনন্দ লজকে বলা যেতে পারে এই জমিদার বাড়ির সবচেয়ে আকর্ষণীয় ভবন। সাদা ও নীল রঙের ছোঁয়াসমৃদ্ধ ভবনটির সামনে আটটি কলাম রয়েছে। এই ভবনের সবচেয়ে আকর্ষণীয় দিক হল তিন তলার ঝুলন্ত বারান্দা। এছাড়া আনন্দ লজের সামনে একটি চমৎকার বাগান রয়েছে।

মহারাজ লজঃ বাইজেনটাইন শৈলীতে নির্মিত এই গোলাপি ভবনের সামনে ৬ টি কলাম রয়েছে। মহারাজ লজের সামনের সিঁড়ির বাঁকানো রেলিংটি ভবনের সৌন্দর্য বহুগুনে বৃদ্ধি করেছে। অন্যান্য ভবনের মত মহারাজ লজের সামনেও একটি বাগান আছে। ভবনের পেছনে একটি টেনিস কোর্ট আছে।

কালীচরণ লজঃ জমিদারীর শেষ পর্যায়ে নির্মিত হওয়ায় এই ভবনটি দেখতে অন্যান্য তিনটি ভবন থেকে আলাদা। অন্যান্য ভবনগুলোর চেয়ে কালীচরণ লজে কক্ষের সংখ্যাও বেশি। ইংরেজি ‘ইউ’ অক্ষরের আকারের এই ভবনটির স্থাপত্যশৈলী ইংরেজ আমলের অন্যান্য ভবনের মতই। কালীচরণ লজের এই আকারের জন্য বিকালবেলা ভবনের ভেতর থেকে চমৎকার আলো আধারির খেলা দেখা যায়।

অন্যান্য ভবনসমূহঃ উপরোক্ত আকর্ষণীয় স্থাপত্যশৈলীর ভবনগুলো ছাড়াও জমিদারবাড়ির সীমানায় রয়েছে বেশকিছু ভবন যেমনঃ কাচারি ভবন, নায়েব ভবন রানী মহল ইত্যাদি। এছাড়া এখানে বেশকিছু পুকুর আছে যেমনঃ বিশাকা সাগর, পশরা সাগর ইত্যাদি।

Hussaini Dalan (হোসেনী দালান), some people pronounce as Hosaini Dalan, is another edifice from Dhaka. This is located beside the Nazimuddin Road of Old Dhaka. It is believed as a Shia Shrine, and was built during 17th century. There is a pond in front of the building.

It was built by Syed Murad during the governorship of Shah Shuja to commemorate the martyrdom of Al-Hussain, the grandson of our holly prophet Muhammad. Shah Shuja was a Sunni Muslim, but he had a predilection for Shia and patronized several such institutions.

This building has gone through several renovation and none of its antiquity left for the visitors. People only used to visit this place for its historical value. During the British period it was repaired heavily at 1807 and 1810. Also during the massive earthquake of 1897 caused a severe damage over this edifice. Now a days it just looks like a modern day's building covering with rich tiles with heavy ornate. The Photograph was taken by Fritz Kapp in 1904 with a view of the Imambara Hussaini Dalan in Dacca (now Dhaka), overlooking the tank.

During the first 10 days of Muharram, Shia people used to gather at this place to mourn for Al-Hussain. Though it’s a festival of Shia people, but local Sunni people used to join with them and bemoan with them. This ends at the day of Ashura. More about this building and festival is available at Wikipedia.