Hindu temple, Rajshahi
Puthia Temples and Rajbariপুঠিয়া মন্দির ও রাজবাড়ি
- Time needed
- Two to three hours.
- best months
- Nov–Mar
- Cost
- Free to walk around; a small fee where the rajbari museum is open.
The greatest cluster of old Hindu temples in Bangladesh, built by the Puthia zamindars around their palace and its ponds: the tall Shiva temple, the terracotta Govinda temple, the Pancharatna temple and the 1895 rajbari.
At a glance
- Rajbari built
- 1895
- From Rajshahi
- About 30 km east
About
The Shiva temple rises over the Shiv Sagar pond as you arrive, a tall five-spired building and one of the largest of its kind in the country. Behind it, around a green and a second pond, stand the rajbari, built in 1895 by Maharani Hemanta Kumari Devi in an Indo-Saracenic style, and a group of smaller temples: Bara Ahnik, Chhota Govinda and the Govinda temple, whose walls are covered in fine terracotta of gods, battles and daily life.
Everything is within a few minutes' walk, and the site is still quiet compared with Bangladesh's bigger heritage spots. Allow a couple of hours to see the terracotta closely.
Getting there: Bus from Rajshahi towards Natore, get off at Puthia and take a rickshaw about a kilometre south of the highway.
Things to do
- Circle the Govinda temple slowly to read the terracotta panels.
- Try kalai ruti at the stalls by the pond.
Good to know
- Some temples are in worship; remove shoes and ask before photographing inside.
