A great thirst for exploring new places is always nurtured in the heart of travellers whether they have money, time and fair conditions, or not. To regain their composure, they get down on the road in search of new places. If the place is an ancient one and of course can be travelled with minimum cost, the exuberance of travellers knows no bounds.
Some of my such types of traveller friends who live with me in Dhaka ardently offered me to visit Mohera Zamindar Bari, a well known place for holiday makers, picnic makers and specially famous for Police Training Centre (PTC), after getting to know a piece of information about it.
We made our way to this landlord house from Mohakhali Bus Terminal followed by collecting tickets from Tangail bound bus ticket counter. It took only about 3 hours to reach Natiapara Bus stoppage. Then, we hired a CNG run auto rickshaw, which started moving forward alongside the green fields of paddy. Within 20 minutes we reached at the landlord house.
We bought tickets with BDT50 per person to visit the main house area. Policemen were providing tickets there, because everything is under their surveillance, and they are also deployed in important points so that anything wrong cannot happen. Each of us got a book with every ticket, containing the history of the landlord who built this palace.
This landlord house contains four colossal buildings -- Moharaj Lodge, Ananda Lodge, Chowdhory Lodge and Kalicharan Lodge. This house is on 8 acres of land. It includes kachari bhaban, ponds, fields and mandirs for prayer. Two brothers Kalicharan Saha and Ananda Saha, made huge amount of profits from their business of selling salt and pulse, came to Mohera village and started living here, then gradually began making those gigantic buildings. The touch of aristocracy was found everywhere of the buildings.
When the British government introduced landlord custom, the sons of these duos brought this land from the landlord of Karatia in exchange of copious amount of money and started sort of ruling supremacy in 1890. In this locality, along with many schools, roads, water supply, they performed many activities for public welfare.
At the time of our liberation war, Pakistani army attacked in this palace and brutally killed many housewives of this landlord's family along with the villagers. As a result, rest of the people were compelled to run away to Kolkata with empty hands to make their life safe. With the landlord's absence, home minister Abdul Mannan directed this abandoned place to be Zonal Police Training School in 1972, and finally this debuted itself as Police Training Centre in 1990.
At our first sight, we couldn't but became enamoured of its beauty. A lot of our moments with all of the palaces were captured in my camera, as we couldn't keep ourselves refrained from the allurement of taking pictures with these ancient establishments anymore. Then, we visited the flower garden from where we were introduced with new types of flowers and trees. There were a small zoo and park for child also behind the gigantic palaces. Pashra and Rani Ponds excavated by the landlords are the part of attraction for many visitors.
Meanwhile, we had been hungry, and for this we sat on the cafe of this area which served very healthy food at cheap rate.
While eating food, we stared at a big green field where thousands of police officers take training every year, and especially in the winter season newly joined polices are trained up. There are some quarters for permanent trainers, officials, and temporary trainees. We felt ecstasy over hearing the news that this place is also used for shooting spot. The shooting of popular movies and plays is very common here. Oh, then I could recall that the buildings of this place were used in many popular Bengali films' shooting including Dadi Ma, Chacchu Amar Chacchu, an episode of Ittadi, a popular TV show, and so on. There was a big lake named Bishakha Sagar in front of this landlord house. We hired boat for an hour and at the eleventh hours got the real taste of nature.
As to this beautiful place, it can be suggested --- if you are baffled to select a suitable place for making a picnic or a sudden hang out --- you may go there for refreshment with your family or friends. Wandered so much at this place whole day, we forgot to see the watch, and as usual we returned in Dhaka late. Still now that journey tingles me, and a strong nexus has been tied that will yearn me to go there again.
The writer is studing at Department of
Marketing, Govt. Saadat College, Tangail
