Kishoreganj: Gangatia Jomidar Bari

Gangatia Jomidar Bari(গাংগাটিয়া জমিদার বাড়ী) is located at the Gangatia(গাংগাটিয়া) union of Hossenpur upozela(হোসেনপুর উপজেলা) from the Kishoreganj(কিশোরগঞ্জ) district. But it has a direct road from Kishoreganj town. I didn’t know that and visited there via the Hossenpur Upozela(হোসেনপুর উপজেলা). It was almost reaching a place after having round a turn of 360 degree(for example a 20 minutes or road, but I have reached there using another one that required 80 minutes). But the countryside beauty of our Bangladesh enthralled me a lot during the ride.

This Jomidar Bari(জমিদার বাড়ী) is currently known as Manob Babur Bari(মানব বাবুর বাড়ী) as the current owner’s name is Manab Babu(মানব বাবু) who is the last descendent of the Gangatia Jomidar(গাংগাটিয়া জমিদার). When I have reached there, it was around 12:00pm at the day. He was surprised as I was alone to visit there. He invited me to his Boithok Khana(বৈঠকখানা) and there we had a long chat on various topics. It was an wonderful moment and our time ran away within a blink. I wanted to prolong the conversation for another few hours, but unfortunately I had to cover other places and was running out of time. He has requested me to have a lunch with him as it was the lunch time when I was returning from there.

Manob Babu(মানব বাবু) has fisheries project near from his house. He also suggested me to have a visit on his project. But once again, I was running out of time. So couldn’t visit those projects. While returning from there, he gave a driver and a motorbike with me so that I do not face any problem to find the shortest path while returning. His hospitality and the generosity impressed me a lot.

According to the Manob Babu(মানব বাবু), they are the possible smallest Jomidar(জমিদার) from the Bangladesh. He also mentioned that their forefathers came here from India, a Brahmin family(very strictly following Brahmin). During the war of 1971, the Pakistani armies and their Bangladeshi allies have done lot of damage to their house. Right now he is living there with his wife and sister. Neither he nor his brothers(all his brothers are passed away) have any children.

Gangatia Jomidar Bari(গাংগাটিয়া জমিদার বাড়ী) is mainly a small house that is having an array of Roman styled columns at the front. The architecture and the style of the building from the front side is amazingly beautiful. Very few travelers use to visit here. This Jomidar Bari(জমিদার বাড়ী) is a small one, but it has a massive boundary. The front door is also decorated and stylish. (গাংগাটিয়া জমিদার বাড়ী)

How to Go:

Below is the shortest direction to visit the Gangatia Jomidar Bari(গাংগাটিয়া জমিদার বাড়ী).

1) Take a battery driven vehicle from the Bot toli(বটতলী) of Kishoreganj(কিশোরগঞ্জ) town. Its around 20 taka per person. It takes around 25 minutes to reach near Gangatia(গাংগাটিয়া). GPS Coordinate of the tempo stand is (24°26’29.65″N, 90°46’36.86″E). Dropping zone to leave the battery driven vehicle is (24°27’14.96″N, 90°42’8.58″E).

2) You’ll find nothing here. So start walking by asking direction to the local people(10/12 minutes of walking). They know this as Manob Babur Bari(মানব বাবুর বাড়ী). GPS Coordinate of the Manob Babur Bari(মানব বাবুর বাড়ী) aka Gangatia Jomidar Bari(গাংগাটিয়া জমিদার বাড়ী) is (24°27’45.63″N, 90°42’11.82″E).

Most of the Hindu Jomidar Bari(জমিদার বাড়ী) from Bangladesh are in a very poor condition. That time the owners were facing difficulties for religious upheaval and other adverse situations, thus they have sensed an urgency to leave this country for their own safety. But fortunately, here they are still living with pride, may be they were too much friendly with the peasants.

Gangatia Jomidar Bari(গাংগাটিয়া জমিদার বাড়ী),
Gangatia, Kishoreganj District,
Bangladesh

This article is written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icwow.blogspot.com/