Jhalokati, Barishal
The weathered mansions and temple of an old zamindar family in Kirtipasha village, on the road to the guava country.
Kirtipasha was the seat of a Hindu zamindar family that held land in this part of Bakerganj in the colonial period. Their estate left behind a cluster of brick mansions with arched verandas, a temple and a pond, set among the village’s trees.
After 1947 the family left, and the buildings slowly fell into disrepair; parts are now used or lived in by local people. Plants grow from the cornices, but the old façades still show the wealth of the river trade that once flowed through Jhalokati.
It is not a museum — just an old estate in a living village — and is best seen on the way to or from the floating market at Bhimruli.
Auto-rickshaw from Jhalokati town in the morning.
Walk around the mansions, the temple and the pond.
Continue to the canals and, in season, the floating guava market.
October to February, or combined with the guava season in July–August
From Jhalokati town, about 20–30 minutes west by auto-rickshaw or CNG; it is on the way to Bhimruli.
