Rajapur Saturia Palace

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.

Kirtipasha Palace was named after King Kirty Narayana. Ramjibon sen founded the Kirtipasha palace. The jewels of the family are namely Rohini Roy and Tapon Roy. The contribution of Rohini Roy is Rohiniganj. There is a hospital in that area that is older than the Jhalakathi district hospital. There is also a family living near to the Shiva temple and Shiva's statue.

Kirtipasha Zamindar Bari (কীর্ত্তিপাশা জমিদার বাড়ী) is located at the village Kirtipasha (কীর্ত্তিপাশা) of Jhalokathi district. This is probably a century old house. Now a days, it is abandoned and in a dilapidated condition. For most of the cases only the walls are standing, and the floors or ceilings are disappeared.

The name of the village is after the Zamindar Kirtinarayan Pasha (জমিদার কীর্তি নারায়ণ). And the founder of the Zamindar Bari was Ramjibon Sen. Only one of the building from this massive property was in good condition. Right now that one is a part of a girl's school along with newly built buildings. The Zamindar Bari premise has a Shiva temple inside. And the remaining of a beautiful temple is also exists these days (only the columns and pillars).

কীর্তিপাশা প্রাসাদটি ঝালকাঠি জেলার রাজাপুর উপজেলায় অবস্থিত। কীর্তিপাশা প্রাসাদ নির্মাণ করেন রামজীবন সেন এবং রাজা কীর্তি নারায়নের নামে প্রাসাদটির নামকরন করেন। রোহিণী রায় এবং তপন রায় এই পরিবারটির ‘রত্ন’ বলে পরিচিত। রোহিনিগঞ্জ প্রতিষ্ঠা করেন রোহিণী রায় যেখানে ঝালকাঠি জেলা হাসপাতালের চেয়েও একটি পুরানো হাসপাতাল রয়েছে। এছাড়া এখানে শিবের মূর্তিসহ একটি পারিবারিক শিবমন্দির আছে।

Boro Katra (বড় কাটরা) was built between 1644 and 1646 AD to be the official residence of Mughal prince Shah Shuja, the second son of emperor Shah Jahan. The prince endowed it to his diwan and the builder of the serai, Abul Qasim. The word Katra may have originated from Arabic word Katara which means colonnaded building.

It is a historical and architectural monument located in Old Dhaka, Bangladesh.‘Katra or katara’ in Arabic and Persian means ‘Caravan (Karwan) Sarai’ or simply a ‘Sarai’. It is a palatial building dating to the reign of the Mughal dynasty in the Bengal region. It is situated to the south of Chowk Bazar close to the north bank of the river Buriganga.

Words from the Second inscription of north gateway: “Sultan Shah Shuja Bahadur was famed for deeds of charity-Wherefore being hopeful of the mercy of God his slave Abul Qasim al-Husainia-Tabtaba, As Simnai, Built this sacred edifice endowing it with twenty two shops attached to it, o the rightful and lawful condition that the official in charge of the endowment should expend the income derived from them upon the repairs of the building and upon the poor, and that they should not take any rent from any deserving person alighting there in, so that the pious act may reflect upon the monarch in this world and they should not act otherwise, or else they would be called on the day of retribution. This inscription was composed by Sad-ud-din Muhammad Sherazi” (Dacca, p.193 by prof. A.H. Dani)

Architectural Property: The building's architecture follows the traditional pattern of the Central Asia's caravanserai and is embellished as per Mughal architecture. It originally enclosed a quadrangular courtyard surrounded by shops and was overlooked by a row of 22 living cells in each wing. Two gateways were built in the northern and southern wing. The southern wing is a two-storeyed structure and extends 223' along the river. It is marked in the middle by the southern gateway, an elaborate three storied central archway framed within a projected rectangular bay that provides access to the courtyard. The underside of the arched alcove of the gateway is adorned with intricate plasterwork. The wall surface around the spandrels with plastered panels in relief contain a variety of forms such as four-centred, cusped, horse shoe and flat arches. Each wing is two storied and the corners are marked by tall octagonal towers.

During 1850, the greater Gopalganj area was ruled by the Zamindar. At that time, they made hundreds of buildings for their residence and official purposes. The buildings were made in the traditional Zamindar Bari look and style. In the last 150 years, most of the houses were destroyed by erosion. After being taken by the government, the authority turned some of these houses into government buildings. Now, most of the houses are abandoned or occupied by local people.

There is a cluster of old buildings in the Ulpur Area which is situated in the Gopalgonj - Takerhat highway, not so far from the Gopalgonj main town. As soon as you cross the Ulpur bridge from Ulpur bazar, the buildings start to appear. The first one was used as the Union Land Office (Government) but is now abandoned. The local people over there are now using it to stock fodder.

The second was probably used as a duplex residential complex but now is being used as the Sub Post Office. The surrounding environment is good and the building is covered by bamboo stocks. In the main road, there is a large old building, which was probably the main building. Outside this building the words "Dinesh Dham" in Bengali is carved in a white slate. This building is currently occupied by some local inhabitants.

If we go farther, then we will see another broken house formerly used as the Upazilla Registry office, now almost completely in ruins. "Din-Dham" in Bengali is also carved outside he building in white stone.

The overall environment of this village is very good and peaceful. Walking for an hour in the silence of this area will be relaxing. The most attractive structure is the Temple. The walls of the temple is decorated with colorful glass & ceramics. The temple looks good but it is also abandoned so the temple has shifted into a newly constructed building.