Sunamganj, Sylhet
The family home of the mystic poet Hason Raja in Sunamganj town, kept as a museum of his life, belongings and songs.
Hason Raja’s songs are part of the living folk tradition of Sunamganj, sung by Bauls and village singers alongside those of Shah Abdul Karim and Radharaman Dutta. If you have the chance, listen to a local singer perform them.
Hason Raja (1854–1922) was born into a wealthy zamindar family of Sunamganj. In his youth he was known for his lavish life, but in later years he turned to mysticism and wrote hundreds of songs about the impermanence of life, the body and love for the divine. Sung in the plain language of the region, they spread by word of mouth long before they were written down, and are still loved across Bangladesh.
His family home in Tegharia, near the Surma, has been kept as a museum. Inside are his personal belongings, clothes, manuscripts and photographs, and the rooms give a sense of a zamindar household of his time. His descendants have been closely involved in keeping his memory alive.
A visit is short, but it puts the songs you hear on haor boats and at village gatherings into context.
Take a rickshaw to Tegharia and spend an hour at the museum.
Walk along the Surma and watch the boats coming in from the haors.
Haor fish and rice at a local restaurant.
Continue towards Tahirpur for a night on Tanguar Haor, or back to Sylhet.
Any time of year; combine it with a haor trip from Sunamganj
In Sunamganj town, in the Tegharia area near the Surma: a short rickshaw or auto-rickshaw ride from the town centre.
