Unseen Bangladesh
Rangpur District · Rangpur Division · তাজহাট জমিদার বাড়ি
Tajhat Zamindar Bari travel guide
A beautiful palace with a white marble staircase, now the Rangpur Museum.
At a glance
- Built
- Early 20th century (thought to be 1908–1917)
- Built by
- Maharaja Kumar Gopal Lal Roy
- Museum
- Rangpur Museum since 2005
- Opening hours
- Closed Sunday, half day Monday
History and details
Manna Lal Roy, founder of the Tajhat zamindar family, is said to have come from Punjab and started a jewellery business in Rangpur; his famous jewelled 'taj' (crown) gave the area its name, Tajhat. His descendant Maharaja Kumar Gopal Lal Roy built the present palace in the early 20th century with about 2,000 masons.
The palace, as tall as four storeys, has a wide staircase of white Italian marble in front, a dome in the middle and long verandas on both sides — modelled on Italian Renaissance architecture. Inside is a wooden spiral staircase, usually closed to visitors.
From 1984 to 1991 the Rangpur bench of the High Court Division of Bangladesh's Supreme Court sat here. In 2005 the Department of Archaeology turned it into the Rangpur Museum; it has Sanskrit and Arabic manuscripts, terracotta plaques and Mughal-period artefacts.
Things to do
- Photograph the palace with the marble staircase and pond in front
- See the manuscripts and terracotta in the museum
- Buy Rangpur shataranji (at Nisbetganj)
How to get to Tajhat Zamindar Bari
About 3 km from Rangpur town.
Rangpur is about 300 km from Dhaka; the journey takes 6–7 hours.
- 🚌 By bus: Green Line, Hanif, Nabil, Agomoni from Mohakhali/Gabtoli; non-AC ৳700–850, AC ৳1,200–1,800.
- 🚆 By train: Rangpur Express from Kamalapur, fare ৳450–1,300.
- ✈️ By air: Via Saidpur airport (about 40 km), one way ৳3,500–5,500.
Where to stay
- Parjatan Motel Rangpur
- Mid-range hotels in town (৳1,200–3,000)
What to eat
Rangpur's Haribhanga mangoes (June–July), shataranji (handicraft rugs)
Good to know
- Closed Sunday, half day Monday
- Photograph the palace with its reflection from the pond in front
More to see nearby
- Carmichael College (3 km)
- Begum Rokeya Memorial Centre at Pairaband (15 km)
- Nisbetganj shataranji village (5 km)
- Vinnojogot (15 km)
More places to visit in Rangpur district
- Begum Rokeya Memorial Centre — Pairaband, birthplace of Begum Rokeya, pioneer of women's awakening.
- Carmichael College — A handsome historic red-brick college building from 1916.
- Vinnojogot — An amusement park with a planetarium, rides and a lake.