Mymensingh is one of the biggest districts from Bangladesh. But compare to its size, the district never had that much of focus from the tourism’s point of view. It has several old Jamidar Bari to visit and Muktagachha Jomidar Bari is one of those. This old edifice is located at the heart of the Muktagachha town.
Previous name of Muktagachha was Binodbari. It is believed/fact that the Jomidars actually came from the Natore or Bogura of the North Bengal. When the first ruler arrived here, a local inhabitant named Muktaram Kormokar welcomed them with a large lamp stand that was made from brass. (In this region of Bangladesh, people call a lamp stand as Gachha). This gratitude pleased the visiting Jamidar and they have renamed the area as Mukta Gachha after that inhabitant’s name and the lamp stand’s local name.
According to the history, most of the rulers from the family have adopted babies in different era and those adopted childs ruled the area later. For example Gourikanta was adopted by Roghunondon. Son of Gourikanta was Shashikanta and his wife adopted Surjokanta as she was childless. Later this Surjokanto became the prominent Jomidar from Mymensingh. People use to call him as Moharaja (means great king) for their massive wealth and power.
Anyway, this old house from muktagachha covers a vast area, though most of the structures are in very poor condition. Few things were stolen by the locals, and others are just dilapidated for the lack of care. Inside the premise we saw a two stored house made from iron and steel (though floors were all gone, only structure was standing there). Also there was a revolving meeting table was built inside the Jomidar bari that was installed by Bhupendra Kishore.
Most of the rulers from this family were cruel and hostile to the peasants. They have a lot of allegations against them including raping, torturing, etc. It was considered as a crime whenever a peasant from that area used to pass by the Jomidar bari wearing any shoe or using any umbrella. Guards used to beat them whenever someone committed such crime.
When we arrived near that Jomibar bari premise, it was almost at the end of the day. We only had 40/45 minutes to explore the area. It would have been great if we could passed more time there. After the sunset, we had a break at the ghat of the pond in front of the Jomidar bari. After a long day and we were actually tired.
How to Go:
You can come to Mymensingh using either a train (three hours) or using a Bus (4-5 hours). Several quality bus services run between the Mohakhali bus terminal and the Mymensingh. You can take Ena Poribohon, Shoukhin, etc.
From the town hall Mor of the city, you can take either a CNG driven auto rickshaw, or any local buses to Muktagachha. It was 25 Taka (as of 2013) per person and required around half an hour to reach at Muktagachha. From there, using a Rickshaw you could reach near to the Mulktagachha Jomidar Bari.
GPS of the Jomidar Bari is (24°46’1.01″N, 90°15’18.21″E).
What to Do:
Muktagachh a is famous for the best Monda from Bangladesh. You could buy the Monda after visiting the Jomidar Bari. The sweet shop is near to that area. Currently the shop is owned by Gopal Pal, the 5th generation sweet maker of the local Pal family.
Nice article.
Nice artical for travelling anyone in Maymensign