Sirajganj, Rajshahi
The Tagore family’s old estate office at Shahzadpur, where Rabindranath lived and wrote in the 1890s — now a museum of his life and belongings.
Each year on 25 Baishakh, Tagore’s birth anniversary, Shahzadpur celebrates with Rabindra Sangeet, recitations, discussions and a fair around the Kachharibari, drawing visitors from across the region. Check locally for the programme.
The Shahzadpur estate came to the Tagore family in the time of Dwarkanath Tagore, Rabindranath’s grandfather, and the Kachharibari was its office, where rents were collected and estate business done. In the 1890s the young Rabindranath was sent to manage the family’s lands in this region, and he stayed at Shahzadpur on several visits.
The time was one of the richest of his writing life. Many of the letters later collected in Chhinnapatra describe the river, the villages and the people around Shahzadpur, and short stories such as Postmaster grew from what he saw here. Poems of the same years were written here too.
The two-storey building, in the European style of the period, is now a museum run by the Department of Archaeology, displaying his furniture, belongings and photographs. On his birth anniversary, 25 Baishakh, Shahzadpur holds celebrations with music and a fair.
Leave Sirajganj town in the morning by bus or CNG via Hatikumrul.
Spend an hour or two in the museum and its grounds.
Eat at Shahzadpur bazar and try the local doi.
Visit a weaving village nearby and watch the looms at work; ask before photographing weavers.
Return to Sirajganj before dark.
October to March; or 25 Baishakh (early May) for the Tagore festival
From Sirajganj town, take a bus or CNG to Shahzadpur via Hatikumrul, about 1–1.5 hours. Buses from Dhaka to Shahzadpur also run directly. The Kachharibari is a short rickshaw ride from Shahzadpur bazar.
