Travel at Rajshahi

Rajshahi Division is one of the seven administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has a population of almost 16 million and area of about 18,195 km². Rajshahi division consists of 8 districts (Bogra, Joypurhat, Naogaon, Natore, Nawabganj, Pabna, Rajshahi, Sirajganj), 70 Upazilas (the next lower administrative tier) and 1,092 Unions (the lowest administrative tier). This division is characterized by its cheap labour force. It has an excellent rail and road communication infrastructure. The divisional city Rajshahi is only four hours road journey away from Dhaka, the capital city. However, recently a new division has been curved out of Rajshahi Division namely Rangpur Division. So the given area and population will definitely decrease in the division. Rajshahi was dominated by various Rajas, Maharajas and Zamindars.

•     Mahasthangarh
•     Paharpur Buddhist Monastery
•     Kantajee's Temple
•     Ramshagor Dighi
•     Shopnopuri
•     Choto Sona Mosque
•     Varendra Research Museum
•     Puthia
•     Rani Vabani Place
•     Uttara Ganabavhan

Mahasthangarh

It is considered the oldest archaeological site of the county. It is located at a distance of 18 km north or Bogra town on the western bank of the Karatoa river. The spectacular site is an imposing landmark in the area. having a long fortified enclosure. Beyond the fortified area, other ancient ruins fan out within a semicircle of about 8 km radius. Several isolated mounds, the local names of which are Govinda Bhita Temple, Khodia Pathar Mound, Mankalir Kunda, Parsuramer Bedi, Jiyat Kunda etc. surround the fortified city. This 3rd century B.C. archaeological site is still held to be of great sanctity by the Hindus. Every year (mid-April) and once every 12 years (in December) thousands of Hindu devotees join the bathing ceremony on the bank of the Karatoa river.
A visit to the Mahasthangarh site museum will acquaint tourists with wide variety or antiquities, ranging form terracotta objects to gold ornaments and coins recovered from the site. Also noteworthy are the shrine or Shah Sultan Bulki Mahisawaiy and Gokul Medh in the neighbourhood of Mahasthangarh.

Paharpur Buddhist Monastery

It is treated as the Largest Buddhist Seat of Learning of South Asia. It is a small village, 5 km west of Jamalganj in the greater Rajshahi district, where the remains of the most important and the largest known monastery south of the Himalayas has been excavated. This 7th century AD archaeological find covers an area of approximately 11 hectare. The entire establishment, occupying a Quadrangular court, measures more than 300 meters and varies from 3.5 to 4.5 meters in height with an elaborate gateway complex on the north, there are 45 cells on the north and 44 in each of the other three sides, with a total number of 177 rooms.
The architecture of the pyramidal cruciform temple is profoundly influenced by those of South-East Asia, especially Myanmar and Java. It had taken its name from a high mound, which looked like a Pahar or hillock. A site museum built recently houses a representative collection of objects recovered from the area. The excavated findings have also been preserved at the Varendra Research Museum at Rajshahi. The antiquities in the museum include terracotta plaques, images of different gods and goddesses, pottery, coin inscription, ornamental bricks and other minor clay objects included as world heritage site first in Bangladesh.

Kantajee's Temple

Kantajew Temple is a late medieval Hindu temple in Dinajpur, Bangladesh. Built by Maharaja Pran Nath, its construction started in 1702 C.E. and ended in 1752 C.E., during the reign of his son Maharaja Ramnath. It boasts one of the greatest examples on Terracotta architecture in Bangladesh and once had nine spires, but all were destroyed in an earthquake that took place in 1897.
The temple was built in a nava-ratna (nine-spired) style before the destruction caused by the earthquake of 1897. The 52 feet square temple is centered in an oblong court, 240 × 120 ft (73 × 37 m), covered by a shed with a roof of corrugated tin. Its main fabric pivots around a nuclear square cell (10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)), reaching a height of about 50 ft (15 m) above its 3 ft 3 in (0.99 m) high slab of stone, thought to have been mined from the ancient ruins of Bannagar near Gangarampur in Dinajpur. Three more square outer shells in graded heights have been added to it, to variegate the plan as well as to strengthen the central sanctuary on top of the massive tower.
The curved cornice from the ground floor, which sharply drops at the corners, rises in the middle to a height of 25 ft 0 in (7.62 m) from the plinth, while the first floor cornice rises to 15' and the second floor to 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m). Small square cells are situated at the four corners of the ground and first floors. They serve the purpose of supporting the weight of the octagonal corner towers above. The temple contains four rectangular alleys on the ground floor circling the prayer hall which measure 30 ft 8 in (9.35 m) by 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m) and 15 ft 6 in (4.72 m) by 4 ft 4 in (1.32 m). On the ground floor. Three multi-cusped arched entrances on each side are present, which are separated by two ornate brick pillars. The number of arched doorways in the ground floor in its four shells is 21; on the first floor it is 27. The second floor, reduced in size, has only three entrance doors and three windows. A narrow staircase, only 2 ft 3 in (0.69 m) wide, is built into the western second corridor. It winds up through the dark passage to the first two stories.

Ramshagor Dighi

Ramsagar, located in the village Tejpur in Dinajpur District, is the largest man made lake in Bangladesh. It is situated about 8 kilometers south of the Dinajpur town.
The lake is about 1,079 meters wide from North to South, and 192.6 meters long from East to West. It was created in the mid 1750s, funded by Raja Ram Nath, after whom the lake is named. The excavation cost 30,000 taka at that time, and about 1.5 million labourers took part in the project.

Choto Sona Mosque

One of the most graceful monuments of the Sultanate period is the Chhota Sona Masjid or Small Golden Mosque at Gaur in Rajshahi. Built by one Wali Muhammad during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah (1493-1519), it was originally roofed over with 15 gilded domes including the 3 Chauchaiqa domes in the middle row, from which it derives its curious name.

Varendra Research Museum

Varendra Museum is a museum, research center and popular visitor attraction located at the heart of Rajshahi town and maintained by Rajshahi University in Bangladesh.
Varendra Museum was the first museum to be established in erstwhile East Bengal in 1910. The museum started out as the collection for Varendra Anushandhan Samiti or Varendra Investigation Society and got its current name in 1919. The Rajahs of Rajshahi and Natore, notably Prince Sharat Kumar Ray, donated their personal collections to Varendra Museum. Varendra refers to an ancient janapada roughly corresponding to modern northern Bangladesh.

Shopnopuri

It is one of the most beautiful artificial tourist spot in North Bengal.