Atharabari Zamidar Bari Mymensingh

Atharbari village of Ishwarganj upazila, one of the most prosperous townships of Mymensingh district, is the location of Atharabari Zamidar Bari, which is about two and a half hundred years old. The distance from the headquarters of Ishwarganj upazila to the zamindar's house is about 14 km. In the past Atharbari village was known as Shibganj/Gobind Bazar. Zamindar Deep Roy Chowdhury bought the zamindari in the name of his son and changed the name of this area to Roy Bazar. Rai Babu built palaces, ponds and moats in a part of the zamindari and brought eighteen Hindu families from Jessore to look after the affairs of the royal family and built houses for them to live in. Since then this place came to be known as Atharbari.

On February 19, 1926, poet Rabindranath Tagore visited Atharbari Rajbari on the invitation of the then zamindar of Atharbari, Pramod Chandra Roy Chowdhury. At that time lunch, baul, jari-sari songs were organized in honor of Kabiguru. It is known that the zamindar of Atharbari Pramod Chandra Roy Chowdhury was a student of Shantiniketan and his teacher was Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore himself. Apart from this, Katha writer Humayun Ahmed shot the movie Chandrakatha released in 2003 in this zamindar house.

Atharbari Degree College was established in 1968 at Atharbari Zamindar's house. As soon as you enter through the main gate of the college, you can see the huge playground and the inner hall of the zamindar bari. A little further from Andaramahal, towards the inside of the college are the Durbar Hall and Kachari Bari. Traditional Ranipukur location near Kachari Bari Bhavan.

If you want to go to Atharbari Zamindar Bari, you have to come to Mymensingh district town first. From Mymensingh railway station, take the train bound for Bhairab at Atharbari railway station and take a rickshaw or walk to the landlord's house. Besides, from Mymensingh, take a bus bound for Kishoreganj district and reach Ishwarganj, from there you can ride an easybike/CNG to Atharbari.

Several transport buses including Ena, Shamim Enterprise, Soukhin depart from Dhaka's Mohakhali Bus Terminal for Mymensingh. It takes two and a half to three hours to go to Mymensingh by bus. You can also go to Mymensingh by taking the Dhaka-Netrakona route. Besides, Teesta Express, Mohanganj Express, Yamuna Express, Agniveena Express and Haor Express trains can go to Mymensingh from Kamalapur Railway Station.

Valmane residential hotels in Mymensingh include Hotel Amir International, Silver Castle, Hotel Hera, Hotel La Marianne, Najma Boarding, Nirala Rest House, Ishan Kha and Hotel Asad.

Mymensingh city has several food hotels including Krishna Cabin, Khandkar Restaurant, Mymensingh Biryani House, Hotel Rasna Vilas, Sarinda Restaurant and Avasti Restaurant.

Other places of interest in Mymensingh district include Bangladesh Agricultural University, Santoshpur Rubber Garden, Shashi Lodge, Muktagacha Zamindar Bari, Shilpacharya Zainal Abedin Park and Maina Dwip.

Feature Image: Sujan Kumar Debnath