Dhanbari Nawab Manzil – Tangail

Dhanbari Nawab Manzil is locally known as Nawab Bari. This is now own by the descendants of Nawab Ali Chowdhury. They have been taking a good care of this palace and also built several cottages inside the premise for the tourists to stay. This is the only heritage resort from our Bangladesh (as far as I know). This is also known as Dhanbari Royal Resort. Inside the premise is very much neat and clean, adequate amount of stuffs and guards are around there to take care of everything.

Current situation of other Jamidar Bari in Bangladesh.

Most of the Jamidar mansions from Bangladesh were owned by the Hindu Jamidars. After the division of the country during 1947, and also later 1971, most of those powerful owners were coerced to leave the country, or cringed away to avoid the secular vandalism. Which results their mammoth mansions left unprotected. Later government has taken control of few of those buildings and using as their official purpose (which are still in a presentable state). But others are in total ruin by now a days for lack of care.

Current situation of Dhanbari Jamidar Bari.

But this Dhanbari Jamidar Bari is totally different from those. As it was owned by the Muslim landlords, they didn’t have to leave the country or had nothing to fear. They were powerful during their ruling period. And yet still they are powerful on that region now a days. That’s why this palace is still in a very good condition and has been taken proper care to maintain its state.

Who built this?

This palace was built by the Nawab Ali Chowdhury during 1919 to invite the British Lord Ronaldshay. He Came near Koyra using the Steamer (water vehicle) and had a reception with 30 elephants. [reference: www.dctangail.gov.bd].

How are the Nawab family members doing?

One of the decedents from the Nawab family named Nawab Hasan Ali Chowdhury was the Industrial Minister during the reign of East Pakistan. Also he was a member of the Parliament during 1978. Later, after his death, his daughter Saiyeda Asheka Akbar was the member of the Parliament during 1981. This information would give you an idea about their power and now you understand why this palace is still in a good condition. [reference: www.dctangail.gov.bd].

Do we require an entry fee?

You’d require to buy a ticket for 30 Taka to enter inside the palace premise. Each ticket is valid for 2 hours of visiting. The area is highly secured and the stuffs and guards around there are very much friendly. No unauthorized entries are entertained there. So no one would bother you while you are enjoying the surroundings.

Night Staying in Cottages:

Anyone can stay at the cottages located inside. This is a lovely place for staying. This calm and serene place would please anyone I can bet. I have a plan to stay there in future. From my entry ticket here is the contact address of the Dhaka booking office.

Royal Resort & Holidays Ltd.
145 Begum Rokeya Shoroni,
Mirpur, Dhaka 1216
Phone: +880-2-9010924

Things to Buy

At the Dhanbari Bazaar you’d find a famous sweet shop owned by Shurjokanto. The Roshgolla (a traditional Bangladeshi sweet) from that shop is mouth watering. You can taste those during your staying there. Or can buy home while returning.

Also, Madhupur is very near from that area (15 minutes of car distance). It will be on your way from Dhaka. During the season you can buy the pineapples from the road sides. Those pineapples are the largest pineapples from Bangladesh. Also, the Bananas of Madhupur are famous. You can buy those during the season.

How to Go

Best way to go there using the private vehicles. Cause the available bus service is not that much handy. The service of that Bus is very poor. Using your private vehicle it would require around 4-4.5 hours to reach there.

* If you want to use public transport. Then Binimoy Bus Service is the option. This will start from Dhaka Mohakhali Bus Terminal and stops exactly at the Dhanbari, beside the palace. Since this is a very much local service and has hundreds of stoppage it would take around 7-8 hours to reach near there (or even more). For your information, that bus takes people standing inside, like the local bus of Dhaka.

* Another option could be the Nirala Bus service. Using that from Mohakhali, you could come to the Tangail within around 3 hours. It’s a direct bus service with no stoppages. From Tangail you could use CNG auto rickshaw to reach near the Jomidar bari. It would be around 2 hours of CNG ride (or less).

* Another option could be coming at Tangail using the train service. But the train’s time schedule is not that much reliable in Bangladesh. So choice is yours.

GPS coordinate of the Dhanbari Nawab Bari is (24°40’30.16″N, 89°57’18.63″E).

Mosque beside the Nawab bari

There is a beautiful looking mosque located at the eastern side of the Jomidar Bari premise. Don’t miss to have a visit on that mosque. More about the mosque can be found from the following link: nawabbari-mosque-of-dhonbari

Dhanbri Nawab Bari,
Dhanbari,
District: Tangail,
Country: Bangladesh,
GPS Coordinate: (24°40’30.16″N, 89°57’18.63″E).

This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog https://alonelytraveler.com/

Friday, 22 March 2013