M Mahmud Ali

In the northern part of Bangladesh, Naogaon is a district in Rajshahi division on the bank of the  Jamuna River. My travels led me to Dubalhati union in Sadar upazila where Dubalhati Rajbari (royal palace) is located, approximately 6 km southwest of Naogaon town.
The palace is a protected site of the Department of Archaeology (DoA). The total land area of the palace is five acres. Once the palace was a gorgeous one, but its condition is ruinous now due to negligence of the department concerned. In spite of that, it still keeps fulfilling the thirst of heritage lovers of the country.
The Dubalhati estate was founded by Zamindar Krishnanath towards the end of the 18th century. Krishnanath initially built the palace for his residence cum office in 1793. Later, Zamindar Haranath Roy Chowdhury repaired and extended the palace in 1853. Haranath Chowdhury was the most prominent among the other zamindars of Dubalhati because of his expansion of the zamindari (estate) to different districts and vast contribution in the field of education.
The old palace was seriously damaged during the great Assam earthquake in 1895. Later, the palace was rebuilt, but the Pakistani army destroyed it during the 1971 Liberation War. Though the buildings of the palace were three to four stories, after the destruction, only the ruins of the bottom two floors are left.
The key attraction of the palace is the uniqueness of its architecture which is rarely found these days.
The front of the palace is north-facing with a number of large Corinthian columns. The façade of the palace carries the symbol of the crown of the British Royal family. The entire palace complex is surrounded by several water reservoirs. The palace was also famous for some beautiful temples on its grounds, and a 16-wheeled chariot, which is not found there anymore.
Dubalhati Palace is now an abandoned property. But once, the palace had at least 300 rooms, including bedrooms, dining hall, reception halls, audience hall, private theatre, guest rooms with artistic veranda and colourful glass decorations over the lintel. In addition to these, there were separate quarters for attendants and servants in the palace compound.