Gazipur, Dhaka
The garden estate that writer and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed made in the Gazipur countryside, where he is buried — a place of trees, ponds and memories for his many readers.
Humayun Ahmed (1948–2012), the most widely read Bangla novelist of his time and the creator of Himu and Misir Ali, built Nuhash Palli as a retreat in the Gazipur countryside and named it after his son Nuhash. He wrote and shot many of his dramas and films here.
The estate is a large garden of fruit and medicinal trees, with ponds, sculptures and cottages. One pond is named Lilaboti, after his daughter who died as a baby.
After his death in 2012 he was buried at Nuhash Palli, and it has since become a place of pilgrimage for readers, especially around his birthday in November and the anniversary of his death in July.
Leave Dhaka early on the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway to beat the traffic.
Walk the gardens, the Lilaboti pond and the sculptures, and pay your respects at the writer’s grave.
Eat at a highway bazaar on the way back towards Rajendrapur.
Walk in the sal forest, then head back to Dhaka before dark.
November to March; the garden is green in the monsoon too
In Pirujali village, west of the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway. Take a bus to Hotapara on the highway, then a CNG or battery auto along the village road to the estate. Allow about an hour from Gazipur Chowrasta; a hired car from Dhaka is simplest.
