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Archaeological and Cultural Heritage tour of Bangladesh 8 days
$987 tour starting at
Archaeological and cultural heritage tour of Bangladesh through the northwestern region to explore all important archaeological sites from the prehistoric age to the colonial period, ancient and contemporary architecture, diverse rural lifestyles and cultures. This region is a very popular destination for various historical monuments, including Kushumba mosques, Puthia temples, Paharpur UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vasu Bihara, Jogoddol Moha Bihara, Halud Vihara, Mahasthangarh, Kantaji Temple, Sena capital, Chhota Sona Mosque, Darashbari Mosque, Khanjan Dighi Mosque, Tahakhana, Bagha Mosque, British-era buildings, beautiful landscapes, rivers, Chars, and vibrant culture.
Bogra was one of the kingdoms of eastern India during the early historical period and was separated by a river from the more easterly kingdom of Kamarupa or Pragjyotisa. According to the Mahabharata and the Puranas, a powerful prince of the Pundra family, Vasudeva ruled this area back in 1280 BC. A limestone slab discovered in 1931 at Mahasthan excavation shows that this first Hindu city was an important urban center when the Maurya empire dominated North India.
The UNESCO declared World Heritage Site Somapuri Vihara at Paharpur is the highest Buddhist monastery in the south of the Himalayas, dating from the 8th century AD. This is one of the most important and impressive archaeological sites in Bangladesh.
Rajshahi is famous for its fine silk, luscious mango, litchis and magnificent architectural landmarks. The city’s clean streets and green surroundings have always welcomed discriminating tourists. There are 270 varieties of mangoes grown in the Rajshahi area during the season between May to September but most of them are available in June and July. Rajshahi is also famous for some characteristic sweetmeats, Roshkodom, Raghobshahi, Khaja and Kachagolla, not to be found anywhere else in Bangladesh.
Puthia Palace is one of the finest examples of old-style architectural magnificence. It has a number of temples that used to be the center for worship by the local Hindu community. Puthia is located about 32km to the east of Rajshahi City and one km from the Dhaka – Rajshahi highway.
Gaur or Gaud or Gauda or Gour was the ancient capital established by Hindu Senas and called Lakhnauti, which has turned into a site of great historical importance. Gaur has more mosques than any area of the country after Dhaka and Bagerhaat. It is located about 100km west of Rajshahi City, on the Bangladesh – India border at Chapainawabgonj town. Archaeological heritage and artifacts of this area are Chhota Sona Mosque, Darashbari Mosque and Madrasa (1479), Dhanichak Mosque, Dakhil Darwaza, Khanjan Dighi Mosque, Kachari Bari of Shah Suja (Tahakhana), Tohakhana Mosque, Tomb of Shah Niamatullah, but none of the structures from the earlier Hindu Kingdoms remains.
This region opens its gates to those who are amazed by its archaeologically important sites as well as various tasty foods.
- Trip Price
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$
987
starts from
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Group Size Per-person price in USD Or in BDT 1 PAX $2,321.00 232,100.00 2 PAX $1,460.00 146,000.00 4 PAX $1,127.00 112,700.00 6 PAX $987.00 98,700.00 S.S $120.00 12,000.00 1.2% to 2.5% charges will be applicable while paying by credit card. Please contact us for your customized tour plan and costs.
8 Days
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Destination
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Departure Time
Please arrive by 9:15 AM for a prompt departure at 9:30 AM. -
Dress Code
Casual, comfortable athletic clothing, closed shoes, hat. Warm jacket during the winter (November to February). Raincoat/ umbrella during the rainy season (May to August). Full sleeves are always necessary while visiting any religious place, mosque, temple, church or a trip during Ramadan. -
Included
AC vehicle with experienced chauffeur for sightseeing and transfersAccommodation in twin sharing basis as per itineraryAll air, bus, train and launch tickets as per itineraryAll entrance fees and local permitsAll Museum TicketsAll rickshaw/ cycle / boat / local transportsBottled water, soft drinks and seasonal fruits during the sightseeingExpert English-Speaking GuideLunchTrip as per itineraryTypical Souvenir -
Not Included
Any activity not mentioned in the itinerary.DinnerGratuitiesLocal guide/ escort/ experts/ academicsPersonal expenses
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Day 1: Dhaka - Saidpur flight: Kantaji Temple, Rudrapur Mud-architecture
After an early breakfast from your hotel, you will be transferred to the domestic airport to a flight (50 minutes flight) to Saidpur (North-West). Upon arrival, meet your driver and drive (40 Minutes) to the Kantaji temple in Birgonj, the most beautiful terracotta temple and the finest example of terracotta bricks architecture in ancient style. Continue drive (1.5 hours) to Rudrapur to visit a local vocational school and training centre. The entire school is built from mud and bamboo. This school plays a very important role in social development in many ways. Few mud structures of this lively campus, and Architect Anna Herringer has earned AGA Khan award for sustainable Architecture by using locally found elements (mud, bamboo and hey). We may arrange our lunch by the school, prepared and served by a local tribal family, otherwise continue drive to Dinajpur town for lunch at a local restaurant and visit the old abandoned Raj Bari (Landlords Palace). Drive (3 hours) to Rangpur town for an overnight stay; on the way, we will visit a local rice processing factory (CHATAL), as we know Dinajpur is famous for various rice. If we are allowed by daylight, we may visit the Tajhat Palace museum and local Bazar and market places. Dinner and night stay at RDRS Guesthouse; they have a selection of lovely cuisines. You may visit the https://rdrsbangladesh.org/ website if you are interested to learn about their activities around the rural areas of Bangladesh.
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Day 2: Rangpur and Gaibandha
Continue to drive towards Gaibandha (3.5 Hours) Friendship centre. Visiting the friendship centre is very restricted, and permission is required because it is not a hotel. This centre is always busy with many awareness campaigns/training programmes for the rural people living in the Char Villages. However, there is a good hotel for accommodation plan B, if the Friendship centre is occupied. Nevertheless, we can visit the centre during the daytime to feel the architectural importance of this building that has followed an ancient Buddhist vihara style. We will be exploring the local life, culture, Bazar markets this afternoon. Dinner and overnight stay at Friendship centre/ Hotel in Gaibandha.
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Day 3: Cruise on the Brahmaputra, Raised Settlement and see how erosion effects on rural char village
After breakfast, we will leave the centre/ hotel by rickshaw for a boat station on the Brahmaputra River. Avail the awaiting country boat for a daylong excursion around the Char, visiting the char village, local school, primitive agriculture and culture. This Char was designed by a local architect Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury.
'Chars are the temporary/shifting river islands formed out of river erosion and sedimentation, which may disappear any time in the same way. And the primitive village on those chars is called 'Char Village. Even from a nearby city town, life in the CHAR area is absolutely different (simple but hard). Living in a char is equal to accepting many different challenges, including natural disasters, effects of climate change, being away from health care and education and many more. These people have been sacrificing their life producing crops and supplying them all over the country, but the consumer barely knows its producer's life story! We are going to listen to many stories of life from these people and share ours.
We have to bring our own lunch from the centre/ hotel for a picnic on board. We will return to the hotel/centre very late in the afternoon. Overnight and dinner at Friendship Centre/hotel.
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Day 4: Highest Buddhist Stupa and first Hindu capital city
Leave the hotel at 8 AM for Paharpur by reserved vehicle, visit of highest Buddhist stupa south of Himalaya, a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE. It is worth visiting the archaeological site museum. A local family will serve a freshly prepared lunch by the monument. Continue drive (2.5 hours) to Bogra, visits of Vasu Bihar and first Hindu capital 'Mahasthangarh' on the way. In the Mahasthangarh Site Museum, an exciting collection of recovered pieces is on display. Check-in at hotel Naz Garden/ Momo Inn for dinner and night stay.
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Day 5: Bogra - Natore - Puthia - (Bagha-Optional) - Rajshahi
After breakfast, leave Bogra for Natore – have some of the most outstanding Rajbaris in the country. After visiting the Rajbari and Uttara Gana Bhavan, continue driving to Puthia – the temple city. A charming town is renowned for Bangladesh's many historically significant Hindu structures. The Shiva Temple in Puthia is the largest Hindu temple in Bangladesh. The Govinda Temple, decorated with intricate terracotta designs, is in one of the country's finest old Rajbari's courtyards.
Drive back to Rajshahi for late lunch. Enjoy the sunset over the Ganges River In the afternoon. Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight stay in Parjatan Motel Rajshahi.
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Day 6: Morning Bazar, flea markets, silk industry and tribal cultural program
Maybe we can take the morning walk through the daily Bazar area before breakfast and take a late breakfast around 8 AM at Parjatan Motel and check out. A quick visit to the Varendra Research Museum would be an exciting discovery of archaeology and the ancient history of Bengal.  Rajshahi is also known as the 'silk capital' of Bangladesh. We will invite you to visit a local silk production and watch this exclusive natural fibre's weaving, dyeing, block and batik painting. This will be a guided trip through the entire process of silk fibre turning into a nice piece of cloth. You may get some souvenirs from their showroom, and they have lovely collections of local style clothes and plain silk fabrics for custom-tailoring. Lunch at a local restaurant in the town. Enjoy a beautiful tribal cultural program in Godagari this afternoon. If you are interested, you may visit the pre-primary school built and run by the local tribal community effort to keep their language and culture alive. Unfortunately, some tribal community has already lost their dialects, which has no way of bringing back!
Dinner and overnight in Rajshahi.
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Day 7: Chapai - Nawabgonj archaeological sites, alpona gram, a brass artisan village and Shibgonj special sweet
Gaur or Gaud or Gauda or Gour was the ancient capital established by Hindu Senas and called it Lakhnauti, which has turned into a site of great historical importance. Gaur has more mosques than any area of the country after Dhaka and Bagerhaat. It is located about 100km west of Rajshahi City, on Bangladesh - India border at Chapainawabgonj town. Archaeological heritage and artefacts of this area are Chhota Sona Mosque, Darashbari Mosque and Madrasa (1479), Dhanichak Mosque, Dakhil Darwaza, Khanjan Dighi Mosque, Kachari Bari of Shah Suja (Tahakhana), Tohakhana Mosque, Tomb of Shah Niamatullah, but none of the structures from the earlier Hindu Kingdoms remains.
We, Will, leave the hotel after breakfast for the Choto Shona mosque area, and it's about 3/4 hours of excursion through the sites and monuments. We will drive back to Chapai Nawabgonj town for lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch, we will visit Alpona Gram and brass artisan villages. The entire Rajshahi region is famous for its unique style of (several stories) mud houses. The Alpona Gram is a village with (particular indigenous tradition of auspicious paint on the floor, walls, etc, with liquid pigments of rice-powder) beautifully painted mud houses by the local tribal community. The brass metal craftsmanship of Chapai Nawabgonj is also very famous in the country for its quality. We will have a nice walk through the artisan village as well. A trip to this region is an opportunity to try the famous 'Rosh-Kodom' sweet of Shibgonj town. Drive back to Rajshahi town for overnight stay at Parjatan motel.
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Day 8: Kushumba mosque and and flight to Dhaka
Around 9 AM, drive to the Kusumba mosque by reserved vehicle. This mosque is one of the last examples of the finest stone works in Bengal. Sulaiman built it in 966 A. H. (1558 A.D) during the reign of Ghiyasud-din Bahadur Shah (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal; Vol. LXX, pt. I, 1904. P. 117. J.N. Sarkar, History of Bengal, Vol. II, p.180). The mosque is built of brick faced with stone both inside and outside, except the arches, domes and roof. The interior of this mosque is divided into two aisles and three bays by stone pillars, which support six hemispherical domes on the roof. Octagonal corner towers, triple curved cornice and bands of horizontal moldings on the façade, a well-designed ladies' gallery at the northwest corner, and three ornamented mihrabs on the western wall make this mosque worth visiting. Drive back towards Rajshahi airport and avail late afternoon flight to Dhakka. Upon arrival in Dhaka, you will be transferred to a nearby hotel for an overnight stay.
Tour Location
Bogra Chapainawabganj Dinajpur Gaibandha Goud Kantajhee Kushumba Natore North West Paharpur Puthia Rajshahi Rangpur Tajhat
ZMervyn7 | Singapore, Singapore
RBT, the guys you ever need to make you feel at home in Bangladesh.
Sep 2016 • Business
Cast away the insecurities of being in Bangladesh with Jewel and his team.
My group and I had the challenging task of visiting the northern most region of the country during Bangladesh’s biggest holiday Eid al-Fitr, and Jewel and his team made it possible with their extensive connections and indomitable spirit.
It was an arduous journey for all but Jewel’s team made sure we were always safe and our needs taken care. They are an honest, warm and knowledgeable bunch of professionals who cares a lot for their country.
The team opened our eyes to the real Bangladesh and we left with an immersive cultural experience that we will never forget.