Travel guide
ময়মনসিংহ · Mymensingh district, Mymensingh Division
The 1,200-acre riverside campus of Bangladesh Agricultural University, founded on 18 August 1961 on the west bank of the Old Brahmaputra about 5 km southeast of the city centre. Its tree-lined roads, open fields and river bank make it a popular walking and cycling escape for townspeople. The campus also hosts the Fish Museum & Biodiversity Center (FMBC), a small but worthwhile stop.
The stretch of the Old Brahmaputra River along the northern edge of Mymensingh town, centred on the busy Chorpara Moor crossing. The riverbank is the city's classic evening promenade and lies close to Ganginarpar Road, Town Hall Moor and Zero Point. Bipin Park, a small park near Boro Bazaar, gives direct access to the river, and the Bangladesh Agricultural University campus is visible across the water.
The Rajbari of the Brahmin zamindar family of Muktagachha, roughly 20-25 km west of Mymensingh town, now partly used as Shahid Smrity College and falling into ruin for lack of care. A 200-year-old twin Shiva Temple stands just outside the zamindar house, where Durga Puja is still celebrated. The town is also famous for its traditional sweetmeat, Monda, which makes an easy half-day trip combined with the palace.
One of Bangladesh's older museums, established in 1969 at the initiative of the then Deputy Commissioner and housed in the Baganbari (garden house) of zamindar Madan Babu. Its initial 214 items were collected from the palaces of Mymensingh district zamindars, including stone vases and antique clocks from Muktagacha, elephant heads and Italian statues from Gouripur, and manuscripts and coins. The museum has been noted to lack modern preservation facilities, so treat it as a short heritage stop.
An art museum established on 15 April 1975 as a branch of the Bangladesh National Museum, holding the collection of artist Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin (1914-1976), a pioneer of modern art in Bangladesh. Displays include 53 oil paintings, replicas, photographs of his life, and personal mementos such as brushes and his spectacles; much of the work depicts rural Bengal and the 1943 Bengal famine. The riverside grounds include an art school, an Art Cottage for visiting artists, and an open-air stage, with an anniversary programme held every December.
Updated: January 1, 1970
