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| Entrance of Dublahati Palace- Noagaon |
Where once the ‘gentry’ took their leisure, now artisans bake clay!
This magnificent ruin, the great facade of which includes the crest of the British Royal family, which must mark some kind of special favour stands, now forlorn, overlooking a tank, around which still stand the houses built for the musicians, dancers and actors who entertained the great Zaminder. Many of those homes are still occupied by the descendants of the original occupants. Few things could more clearly announce this as the age of the common people!
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| Dublahati Palace- Noagaon |
It seem reasonable to suppose, though we can’t be sure, that this structure was built to replace one that collapsed in the Great India earthquake of 1897. What is certain is that it looks very similar to other post ‘quake constructions; and that there has been some kind of administrative home here since, perhaps the 12th Century.
53 Rajas, it is said, have inhabited the place, and in front of the palace, on the side of the road that was once the road from Noagaon to Rajshahi, still stands the well it is said was sunk to refresh travelers on that road from the earliest days.
The penultimate of these 53 administrators, Raja Haranath Ray Bahadur, whose grandson, we are told, still lives in Noagoan, was a great innovator, as well as being, in all probability, the man who ordered the construction of the palace.
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| Art work , Dublahati Palace- Noagaon |
He founded Noagoan High School, and Rajshahi Government College, amongst other schools, reservoirs and wells, in a noble tradition of some of the greater Zaminders.
This is the kind of ruin that in many places in the world would be protected from looters of building materials, and preserved as safe ruins for the leisure and enjoyment of a wider public.
At only 8km from the town center, it is well worth a visit.
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