River, lake and haor, Shariatpur
Mahisar and the Digambari Tanksমহিষার ও দিগম্বরীর দিঘি
- Time needed
- About an hour.
- best months
- Nov–Feb
Two great tanks dug for drinking water on Chand Rai and Kedar Rai's orders, with the temple of Digambari, the ruined 'Bhia Bari' nearby, and a week-long fair from Pahela Baishakh.
At a glance
- Dug for
- Drinking water, on Chand Rai and Kedar Rai’s orders
- Fair
- A week from Pahela Baishakh
About
Mahisar was once a well-known place in southern Bikrampur. The Baro-Bhuyan brothers Chand Rai and Kedar Rai, who were born at Ara Phulbaria, now lost to the river, had tanks dug here for drinking water. Their own village of Raipur has gone into the Padma too, so these two great tanks are almost all that remembers them on this side of the river. Worship of the goddess Digambari is still held beside them, which is why they are called the Digambari tanks.
A little way off stands a house of old burnt bricks, now lived in by other people, which locals call the 'Bhia Bari', thought to be a worn-down 'Bhuiyan Bari', the Bhuyans' house. Every year from Pahela Baishakh a week-long fair is held at Mahisar. The scholar Gangacharan Nyayaratna lived here, and several people who took part in the freedom struggle were born here.
Getting there: Mahisar lies east of Shariatpur town towards Bhedarganj; take a bus or CNG and ask for the Digambari dighi.
Things to do
- Walk round the two tanks and see the Digambari temple.
- Find the 'Bhia Bari' of old burnt brick.
- Come for the Pahela Baishakh fair.
Good to know
- The Bhia Bari is a family home: look from outside.
