Taking A Break In Rajshahi

Ah Dhaka, hideous Dhaka! After spending a stress-relieving, warm weekend at Rajshahi, the first thing on my recently-peace-restored neurons is buses honking and drivers yelling on the ever-so-friendly traffic jam in Uttara. The miseries of coming back to where you belong! Nonetheless, Rajshahi is green, clean and a great getaway from Dhaka.

Being on the northwestern part of the country, Rajshahi is approximately a 5-hours bus ride from Dhaka. Although the journey unfolds our very deshi lush green countryside and a wonderful view over Jamuna Bridge; Rajshahi City itself is more of a suburb with small houses and peaceful community. You could stay at a local rest house or motel for two-three days and travel around on rickshaws (if you don’t have a transport of your own).

The roads are smooth with low traffic, hence presenting themselves as a haven for long, relaxing drives. The only things that you need to watch out for are goats. These creatures are harmlessly uncaring of your presence or the fact that your vehicle might give them a brain hemorrhage; so they only choose to move out of your way with a blatant “baah!” when your ride is two inches away from them. However, these fascinating goats are only found on the outskirts of Rajshahi, leaving the city as a great place to drive.

With large windows overlooking architectural structures from the British regime, Rajshahi is a steaming cup of coffee for a photographer, artist or a soul-searching traveller. Approximately an hour’s drive from the city lies the historical Sona Masjid. The walls are a state-of-art exhibit of flawless carving to a detailed pattern. The courtyard hosts the grave of martyrs from the Liberation War, including Biir Shrestho Nur Mohammad. In another 20 minutes drive from Sona Masjid, the red-walled structures and ruins of Shahjahan’s son’s Tohakhana are to be found. It is said that a portion of this palace was used to hang people. If hanging people is your arena, don’t forget to go around the palace to take a closer look at the well in which the dead bodies were dropped. Unlike most other historical sites, Tohakhana is not swarmed with couples, so you can actually enjoy the architectural view. Our group of wandering cousins climbed up the stairway to the rooftop to pay a tribute to the captivating view of the different shades of green reflecting on the crystal-water lake next to the palace.

Coming back to the city, a walk around the campus of University of Rajshahi will bring you closer to more old-fashioned buildings. In-campus monuments like Shabash Bangladesh and Shahid Smriti are decent places for family souvenir photographs. Being a fan of Igloo ice-cream and street delicacies, we tried out a certain breach of kulfi known as Shandesh Bar found near Shahid Smriti. Missing out on the ecstatic taste of shandesh-like ice-cream melting inside your mouth while touring around the campus is something I can guarantee you’ll regret later.

On the other hand, Rajshahi Museum (portions of which were under construction when we went) hosts some of the finest statues and artifacts from the Mughal reign. We bumped into a local art student inside the museum, carefully imprinting one of the statues on canvas using charcoal. The green gardens in the courtyard of the museum has stone sculptures surrounding a white-something with birds chirping, making it quite an interesting place to visit.

We spent our evenings taking leisurely strolls on the streets and next to Padma River. Although walking next to the river will present the devastating scenes of the water drying up, the soft warm breeze will definitely soothe your soul. Another street delicacy, where the seller slits a boiled egg and puts in spices (making it an egg sandwich) was our personal favourite during those long walks.

Rajshahi isn’t the typical top-notch tourist spot, but it is a great getaway from Dhaka. It’s a place where you can snap some brilliant shots and travel around. It also brings home the best mangoes in the country; so in the heat of this summer, the ripe taste of mangoes will be quite delightful. If you want to take a relaxing drive, passing green forests or simply unwind on your vacation; and if you’re tired of murky waters at Ashulia, Rajshahi is definitely everyone’s next tourist destination.

Photo Credit: Sabhanaz Rashid Diya
Published in 23/01/2008 in Rising Stars