A shadowy, lifeless estate...

The Dhaka Times Desk Hearing about the Zamidari house can make many people shiver. Many people understand zamindari to mean the 'hunkar' of a dictator. But what is it really? Manorial houses are still preserved by our country's Directorate of Archaeology. These are our national assets. Mahbubul Hasan of Jahangirnagar University's Department of Archeology has written about such a zamindari house.

"The eyes are not seen
ঘর হইতে শুধু দুইপা ফেলিয়া…”

Like Ravi Babu's poem, it is difficult to count the number of things scattered around us that we cannot see even with our eyes. Even in the middle of the busyness and hundreds of adversities, if you take a day out and open your eyes, you will see how beautiful this is.

Since I didn't meet my friends this Eid, I planned to go somewhere as soon as the campus opened. But by then those monotonous classes have started again. The time was getting very boring so I took a day off from class-exams to spend a different day in Dhaka. With two friends Sohail and Tapu.

I wanted to see a new place, so I first came to Ashulia by bus. Then I crossed the Turag river by boat from Mirpur embankment and went down to Birulia. This ancient village turns into a complete island in the monsoons, so the adventure was a bit more.

This beautiful building will be seen as you go ahead

The village has many beautiful buildings dating back to the colonial era. This Birulia village was a part of Bhawal Raja's zamindari. Wealthy businessmen such as Nitai Babu, Gopi Babu, Rajni Ghosh, Tarakchandra Saha, along with the ancestors of the world famous Adi Dhakeswari textile mill of Kolkata, lived here. Barges and ships of zamindars like them flocked to this Birulia ghat. Sitting here, they used to conduct business along the banks of Banshai, Dhaleswari, Turag rivers. How crowded this village was at one time, and today we were walking along the path of this ancient smelled village.

Then you will see Birulia High School built in 1994. Right next to this hundred year old school you will find this building with a temple attached to it.

We walked along the village road. Some very old mud houses also caught our eye. Going a little further, the 85-year-old Sri Sri Vrindavan Chandra Jiu Vigraha Temple came into view.

The more we saw, the more impressed we were. Repeatedly felt if time travel could be done! And in front of the eyes were floating one after another the likeness of the nobility of the landlords. How artistic and noble such a house could be built in those ancient times! These houses have such amazing variety of designs.

This tulsi tree growing carefully next to this beautiful house reminded us of 'The Story of a Tulsi Tree'.

During the partition of the country in 1947, during the Hindu-Muslim riots, the zamindars left their hard-earned property and migrated to India. This is what this old uncle who grew up in this village since birth told. He said, many things of that time only when he closed his eyes, which he saw like a dream. At that time we were also trying to get carried away in fantasy.

These 12 amazing ancient buildings scattered all over the village took us to a different world. We didn't realize when the mother sun was preparing to sink towards the west.

On the way back by boat, I was looking at this century-old banyan tree, which is separated from Birulia village but is nearby. A picture of this banyan tree next to the ancestral home is displayed in the showroom of Adi Dhakeswari Textiles in Kolkata. Even today, the Boishakhi fair is held here. And there are various ghost stories around it!

He did not want to leave the village. But that will happen on the way back, so we sat on the boat. After leaving the boat, it seemed as if the landlords were waving goodbye to us. The hospitality of the landlord! The result seems to be a little more than expected.

If you want to get lost in the past in this ancient village, you can take a day off from the hustle and bustle.

How to go:

Alif Enterprises or any human hauler passes in front of Birulia Ghat along the Mirpur embankment, if you ask the helper, they will drop you off. And if you take a private car or CNG, you can come from Mirpur direction or come from Ashulia direction, you will see Birulia Ghat after only 7/8 minutes on the embankment. Go to Birulia village by boat from the ghat.

Precautions:

As the village is like an island, there are lots of dogs here. But there is nothing to panic. The dogs here are very calm. The village is quite safe as there is a police outpost. And the villagers are quite hospitable. However, you will not find any good hotel or restaurant here for eating and drinking. You have to eat and drink after coming out of the village. If you want to see something good, you don't have to sacrifice it! Have a good trip.

# Mahbubul Hasan
Department of Archaeology
Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka-1342.
Facebook Link: www.facebook.com/mahbubulhasan.ju