Sonargaon – Top Attractions, One Day Tour

Sonargaon ( সোনারগাঁও; meaning the City of Gold) was a historic administrative, commercial and maritime center in Bengal. Situated in the center of the Ganges delta, it was the seat of the medieval Muslim rulers and governors of eastern Bengal. Sonargaon was described by numerous historic travelers, including Ibn Battuta, Ma Huan, Niccolò de’ Conti and Ralph Fitch as a thriving center of trade and commerce. It served as the capital of Sultan Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, Isa Khan and the Baro-Bhuyan Confederacy.

The area is located near the modern industrial river port of Narayanganj in Bangladesh. Today, the name Sonargaon survives as the Sonargaon Upazila (Sonargaon Subregion) in the region.

Goaldi Mosque – The historical sultan Mosque

Sonargaon contains quite a number of Archaeological evidence, helping the scholars to reconstruct the Medieval History of Sonargaon area of Bangladesh. Goaldi Mosque, one of the very few surviving medieval monuments in the city of Sonargaon. About 6 km northwest of the little township of Panam, near Sonargaon in Narayanganj district, there are two such precariously surviving old single-domed mosques in the sequestered hamlet of Goaldi, virtually hidden behind thick bamboo brakes and clusters of mango and jackfruit tree groves.

Built in 1519, the graceful, single-domed Goaldi Mosque is the most impressive of the few extant monuments of the old capital city, and a good example of pre-Mughal architecture. This mosque is one of the few remnants from the Sultanate period in Sonargaon, during the reign of Sultan Hussain Shah in 925 Hijri (1519 AD). It was built by Mulla Hizabar Akbar Khan in the early 16th century, during the reign of Alauddin Husain Shah at a place called Goaldi – half a mile northeast of Panam village in Sonargaon. Sonargaon was the administrative center of medieval Muslim rulers of East Bengal. It became as the capital of Bengal during Isa Khan’s ruling. The area falls under present-day Narayanganj District, Bangladesh. This mosque is more elegant and ornate in comparison to the earlier Sultanate mosques at Bagerhat.

There are some ornamental black stone pillars inside the prayer hall for the support of the roof. Corresponding to the three arched doorways on the east there are three richly decorated mihrabs on the west wall, of which the central one is bigger and beautifully embellished with curved floral and arabesque relief on dark black stone, but the flanking side mihrabs are ornamented with delicate terracotta floral and geometric patterns. The central stone mihrab is framed within an arched panel with an expanded sunflower motif in the center. Below that the spandrels of the multi-cusped arch of the mihrab are decorated within a rectangular frame. The engrailed arched recess is carried on stunted octagonal pillars faceted at stages. Four round-banded turrets at the outer corners rise up to the curvilinear cornice.
Duration: 1 – 2 hrs

Sadar Bari – Sonargaon Folk Art and Craft Museum

There are a folk art and craft museum for the visitors & tourist traveling in Sonargaon.Sonargaon Folk Art and Craft Museum remains open from morning to afternoon (9 AM to 5 PM). Wednesday and the Thursday, this museum is closed for the weekend. This is prosperous with several unique collections those you’ll never find at any other place. Some are lost from our country, and only those are remains. The main museum building is placed at the “Sardar Bari”. “Sardar Bari” was built by a Hindu Zamindar of Sonargaon in 1901. Alike the other Zamindar house of that period, this one also looks like Indian houses, but the shape of the house was looked like the European Palaces. The baroque decoration and the elaborate painting on the plaster of the building are really eye catching.

Lok Shilpa Jadughar (Folk Art and Craft Museum) of Sonargaon was established by Bangladeshi painter Joynul Abedin on March 12, 1975.

It will cost you BDT20 to enter the museum area. It’s a vast area, and will take you lots of time to round the area. You’ll find an art gallery of “Zainul Abedin” inside the museum area. There are two Exhibition Galleries inside the museum. Both of them consist of some status showing the local life of Bangladeshi people, for example, farming, woman working etc. Also, you’ll find the miniature version of the several boats from my country, which is now a day vanished after competing with the mechanical vehicles.
Duration: 2 – 3hrs

Panam Nagar – The old city

Ancient Painam, a locality now in Sonargaon upazila of Narayanganj district. It is about 2.5 kilometer to the north of Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Mograpara point. It is said to have been the site of Hindu capital city of Sonargaon emerging in the seventh decade of the thirteenth century. The Panam area formed part of the Muslim metropolis developed on the south of the old city, and perhaps constituted the place of residence of the early Muslim governors’. After the Mughal conquest of Sonargaon (1611) the Panam area was connected with the ruling metropolis by the construction of highways and bridges. Panam still possesses three brick bridges belonging to the Mughal period: Panam Bridge, Dalalpur Bridge and Panamnagar Bridge.

Panamnagar, a unique township, stretched in a single street 5 meter wide on the average and 600 meter in length. All the buildings have the character of urban street front houses and are lined up on either side of this street which ends up at the Panam bazar. Fifty-two houses exist in dilapidated and disused condition having 31 in the north side of the street and 21 on the south. Panamnagar appears to be well protected by artificial canals all around. Two fairly wide canals run parallel to the street on its either side and joined by a narrow canal on the western side over which is the entrance bridge (Panamnagar Bridge). On the eastern side, the canal on the south swerves rightward and goes eastward crossing the north-south road that passes through the Panam bazar. The northern canal, the Pankhiraj Khal, runs eastward to meet the Meghna-Menikhali stream.
Duration: 1-2hrs

Nearby Restaurant: 
1.Kolapata Restaurant, Mograpara Chourasta, Soanargaon, Cell: 01760144144
2.Khaja Restaurant, Mograpara Chourasta, Sonargaon, Cell: 01815708079
3.Melin Kabab, Soup & Biryani House, Mograpara Chourasta, Sonargaon, Cell: 01816586220
4.Cafe Sonargaon Hotel & Restaurant, 1no. Gate of Museum,Ichapara, Cell:01819932696
5.Ruposhi Bangla Restaurant, 1no. gate of Museum, ichapara, Cell: 01712289708
6.Tazmahal Hotel, 1no. gate of Museum, ichapara, Cell: 01819167894

Transportation: Taxi, Car, Microbus, Minibus – Rent for whole day 4000 – 5000BDT

Content: offroadbangladesh & Photo: google