Mahasthangarh (or Mahasthangar) is an archaelogical site that is located in Shibganj upazila of Bogura district, Bangladesh. This is one of the oldest archaelogical sites from Bangladesh which is dated 300 BC. That time this place was the capital of Pundravardhana, and a lot of architectural components are scattered around the place.
Mahasthangarh museum
This nice little museum also works as a visitor center for the tourists. This remains open from 9am – 5pm during winter, and from 10am – 6pm during summer time. This remains closed on Sunday, and Monday it is half day closed. During any government holiday this place remains closed as well. The museum is rich with numerous collections such as statues, coins, weapons, etc which were found after the excavation from the archaeological sites around the Mahasthangarh.
Gobinda Vita
Govinda Vita is another archaeological spot from the Mahasthangarh (which is at the opposite of the museum). This is situated just beside the famous river Korotoa. Few important antique objects were discovered around the Govinda Bhita, such items are cast copper coins, silver coins, NBP wares, terracotta female figurines with sunga affinities, terracotta seal bearing Brahmi script and semi precious stone beads.
Shila Debir Ghat
Shila Debir Ghat is another archaeological spot which is situated approximately 200 meter from the Mahastangarh, and it is beside the river Korotoa. According to the legend, Shila Debi was the beautiful daughter of the king Parshurama, some scholars use to say she was the sister of the King Porshurama. After the war with King Shah Sultan, Shila Debi jumped into the Korota river to save her honor, and drowned herself.
The place at the bank of the river is known as the Ghat of Shila Debi. But the scholars are considering this story as a myth. They believe that the original name of the place was Shila Dvipa which means the island of stone. Anyway, the Hindus celebrate the Paus Narayani Bath annually at the Ghat.
Jiyat Kunda
Jiyat Kunda (or Jiyat Kua) is a water well having a diameter of 3.86 meter. To ease the water crisis during the ruling period of king Porshuram this water well was established. People believe that the king Porshuram could bring life inside a dead body using the water from the well. But the well lost its spiritual power during the war with King Shah Sultan, when the Sultan dropped a piece of beef using the bird kite. This story is just a myth, but a lot of visitors pay a visit here for a while.
Gokul Medh
Gokul Medh is another archaeological site that is a part of the Mahasthangarh. But this place is slightly far from the other attractions. Local people believe this as a Bashor ghor of Behula and Lakkhindar. This place requires a separate ticket to enter and it has an opening and closing time too. Read more about Gokul Medh.
How to go:
Mahastangarh is located just beside the Bogura – Rangpur highway. You could take a bus to Rangur from Dhaka and leave it near Mahasthan. From there it is just a few minutes of rickshaw distance. Alternatively you could take the bus of Bogura and then catch any inter district bus for Mahasthan. There are several bus services departing for Bogura and Rangpur from the Kolyanpur of Dhaka. It takes around 8-10 hours of overnight bus journey depending upon the traffic condition.
Where to stay:
Bogura town has a lot of excellent quality hotels for staying. Hotel Naz Garden is the best quality one from the district. you could stay there if you do not have any tight budget. For me, I stayed in the hotel Red Chillies from the town. It was a modest quality guesthouse with reasonable prices.
Mahasthangarh,
Village: Mahastan,
Upazila: Shibganj,
District: Bogura,
Country: Bangladesh.
Written by Lonely Traveler,
For blog alonelytraveler.com
Friday, 28th May 2010
