Fort and palace, Magura
Sreepur Zamindar Bariশ্রীপুর জমিদার বাড়ি
- Time needed
- About 45 minutes.
- best months
- Nov–Feb
The Pal Chowdhury zamindars' house in Sreepur, tied to the story Tagore told in Bou-Thakuranir Haat; its lion gate and some inner rooms still stand.
At a glance
- Built by
- Zamindar Sarada Ranjan Pal Chowdhury
- In literature
- Tagore's Bou-Thakuranir Haat
- Today
- Lion gate and some inner rooms; unprotected
About
According to the district, Raja Sitaram Ray first built a kachari, a rent office, here in Mughal times; later the powerful zamindar Sarada Ranjan Pal Chowdhury raised a house on the scale of a palace. His daughter Bibha married Udayaditya, son of Raja Pratapaditya of Jessore, and researchers say the strain between the proud raja and the gentler zamindar fell on her marriage. Rabindranath Tagore built his novel Bou-Thakuranir Haat on that story.
The Department of Archaeology has never taken the house over, and no public body looks after it. What remains is the lion gate, singha darja, and some rooms of the inner house. Treat it as a story you can stand inside rather than a restored monument, and come with the novel in mind.
Getting there: Sreepur is 15 km north of Magura. Get off the bus at the Sreepur stand and go 1 km along the Sreepur–Sachilapur road; the house is on the left.
Things to do
- See the lion gate and the inner rooms that survive.
- Combine it with Farrukh Ahmad’s village, Majhail, in the same upazila.
Good to know
- The house is old and unprotected: stay out of crumbling rooms.
- People may live nearby; ask before taking photos of them.
