ancient place: Tajhat palace

The Tajhat palace

The ancient Tajhat palace was built by Maharaja Kumar Gopal Lal Roy in the beginning of the 20th century. He was a descendent of a Hindu khatri who emigrated from the Punjab. He was a jeweler by profession. It is believed that from the conspicuous appearance of his Taj or jeweled crown, his estate derived the name of Tajhat.

This ancient palace is laid out in the form on a “U”, with its open end to the west. Beyond the entrance at ground-floor level there is a very large hall, measuring more than 18 x 13 meters. A 3 meter wide corridor runs the entire length of the inner block. Two broad wooden staircases provide access to the upper floor. There are about 22 apartments on two floors.

 From 1984 to 1991 the palace was used as a Rangpur High Court Branch of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. In 1995 the palace was declared as a protected monument by the Department of Archaeology. Recognizing its outstanding architectural value the Government of Bangladesh shifted the Rangpur Museum to the second floor of the palace in 2005. The main room at the top of the marble stairs have a number of display cases which show 10th-11th century terracotta artifacts.

 There are a number of fine examples of Sanskrit and Arabic manuscripts, including copies of the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and a Qur'an whose provenance is attributed to none other than the Mughal Aurangzeb. The back rooms have several examples of black stone Hindu carvings in its back rooms, mainly of the deity Vishnu. Photography is not permitted in the museum itself