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Muktagacha Rajbari

Bangladesh


Spread over 10 acres, the rajbari here is a special estate, even in disrepair. The main structure is bedecked with Corinthian columns, high parapets and floral scrolls in plaster, while the grounds encompass several shrines. The caretaker here speaks broken English and will probably offer you a guided tour. He’s quite a character and well worth the baksheesh he’ll ask for a run-through of the complex (around Tk 50 is fair).

Inside you’ll find, among other things, a former treasury with the last of 50 safes and a room that the caretaker quaintly describes as the ‘finishing room’, but is actually a less quaint execution chamber. The main audience chamber here has the remnants of a rotating dance floor.

The Rajeswari temple and the stone temple, believed to be dedicated to Shiva, are just two of the finer shrines within the complex, while just outside are the former stables for the rajbari’s 99 elephants (now occupied by the local police).

The rajbari is signposted from the main road where the bus stops.