Heritage Sites of Bangladesh: Historical Places Worth the Journey

Bangladesh has been home to great cities, monasteries and courts for more than two thousand years. Brick and terracotta were the materials of the delta, and the ruins they left are among the most beautiful historical places in Bangladesh. This guide follows the story in rough order, from the earliest city sites to the palaces of the zamindars, with a link to the full guide for each heritage site.

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Bangladesh has three World Heritage Sites. Two of them are monuments, both inscribed in 1985; the third is the Sundarbans, listed in 1997 for its nature.

Paharpur: Somapura Mahavihara

The ruins at Paharpur in Naogaon were once one of the greatest Buddhist monasteries south of the Himalayas. The Pala king Dharmapala built it in the late 8th century: a vast square of monks’ cells around a courtyard, with a towering, cross-shaped temple at the centre. Its walls carry hundreds of terracotta plaques of gods, animals and daily life. A small site museum shows finds from the excavations.

The Mosque City of Bagerhat

In the mid-15th century Khan Jahan Ali built a town called Khalifatabad in the south-west. Its great mosque, the Sixty Dome Mosque, is the largest of the Sultanate period in Bangladesh; despite its name it has 77 domes over the prayer hall. It is still used for prayers. Nearby is Khan Jahan Ali’s Tomb, visited by pilgrims, and other mosques of the old town are scattered around.

Ancient cities and Buddhist monasteries

Mahasthangarh

Mahasthangarh, on the Karatoya near Bogura, is the site of ancient Pundranagara and among the oldest urban sites in the country. Its brick ramparts still rise above the fields, and the Mahasthan Brahmi inscription found here is one of the oldest written records in Bangladesh. Add the mound of Gokul Medh and the monastery ruins of Vasu Bihar.

Wari-Bateshwar

In Narsingdi, Wari-Bateshwar is the excavated remains of a fortified town more than two thousand years old, with walls, a moat and a paved road. It is an easy trip from Dhaka for anyone curious about the country’s earliest history.

Shalban Vihara and Mainamati

On the low red ridge outside Cumilla, Shalban Vihara is a square brick monastery generally linked to the Deva kings of the 7th–8th centuries. The Mainamati Museum next door displays terracotta plaques, sculptures and coins from the sites along the ridge.

Mosques of the Sultanate and Mughal eras

Choto Sona Mosque

At the edge of the old capital Gaur in Chapainawabganj, the Choto Sona Mosque, the “Small Golden Mosque”, was built in the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah. Unlike most mosques in Bengal, it is faced with carved stone, and it is often called the gem of Sultanate architecture. The massive gateway of Kotwali Darwaza stands nearby on the border.

More mosques worth seeing

• Bagha Mosque near Rajshahi, built in 1523–24, with ten domes and rich terracotta
• Kusumba Mosque in Naogaon, a six-domed mosque of dark stone beside a large pond
• Baba Adam’s Mosque in Munshiganj, built in 1483, one of the oldest standing buildings of the Dhaka region
• Atia Mosque in Tangail, from 1609, with fine terracotta
• Star Mosque in Old Dhaka, covered in a mosaic of broken china

Mughal Dhaka and the river forts

Lalbagh Fort

Lalbagh Fort was begun in 1678 by Prince Muhammad Azam, a son of the emperor Aurangzeb, and was never finished. Inside its walls are the tomb of Pari Bibi, a three-domed mosque and the Diwan-i-Aam, now a small museum.

The water forts

The Mughals guarded the rivers below Dhaka with small water forts. Hajiganj Fort and Sonakanda Fort face each other across the Shitalakshya in Narayanganj, and Idrakpur Fort stands in the middle of Munshiganj town.

Terracotta temples

Kantajew Temple

Completed in 1752, the Kantajew Temple in Dinajpur is the finest terracotta temple in Bangladesh. Its nine spires fell in the earthquake of 1897, but every outer wall is still covered with panels from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and 18th-century village life.

Puthia

The Puthia Temple Complex near Rajshahi is one of the largest groups of old Hindu temples in the country, built by the zamindars of Puthia around their ponds. Look for the Bhubaneshwar Shiva Temple and the terracotta of the Pancharatna Govinda Temple. Further east, the Hatikumrul Navaratna Temple in Sirajganj is another nine-pinnacled brick temple.

Merchant houses and zamindar palaces

Ahsan Manzil and Panam City

The palace of the Nawabs of Dhaka, Ahsan Manzil, was completed in 1872 on the Buriganga and has been a museum since 1992. In Sonargaon, Panam City is a street of 19th- and early 20th-century merchant houses, now a protected heritage site.

Palaces of the north

• Natore Rajbari, seat of Rani Bhabani’s estate, and Uttara Gonobhaban, palace of the Dighapatia rajas
• Tajhat Palace in Rangpur, now the Rangpur Museum
• Baliati Zamindar Bari in Manikganj, a row of grand 19th-century buildings

Tips for visiting heritage sites

• Go in the cool months. November to February is best; mornings and late afternoons give soft light and fewer crowds.
• Check opening days and hours locally. Museums and protected sites have weekly closing days, and they can change.
• Dress modestly at mosques, temples and shrines, remove your shoes where asked, and avoid prayer times, especially Friday midday.
• Do not climb on walls or touch the terracotta. These are fragile, protected monuments.
• Hire a local guide where one is available; the stories make the ruins come alive.

Many of these sites make easy day trips from a divisional city. For more ideas, see our list of the top tourist places in Bangladesh, then search buses to the nearest town.