A historical palace situated at Naodanga under Phulbari upazila of Kurigram district is one the way of decay and destruction due to lack of proper maintenance.The archeologically important palace is 25 kilometers off Kurigram town and attracts a lot of visitors’ everyday.
Some parts of the palace have gone under the illegal occupations.In the front part of the palace was the land lord’s house which is now supervised by Naodanga High School and College authorities.
The Shiba temple in the palace premises is now in deplorable condition. Several cracks have developed in the temple covered with parasites. A big Shiba Lings weighing 12 mounds was installed in the temple.
Some people belongings to the Hindu community set up a tin shed house near the Shiba temple. A gathering of Gita recitation is held here every Sunday.It is learnt that the land lord Raghu Prashad Bakshi built the palace 200 years ago. His son Shiba Prashad Bakshi was a powerful minister of the land lord of Coochbihar (now coochbihar is a district of West Bengal province in India).
Later, Ashwika Prashed Bakshi son of Sheba received the land lordship. He extended his estate during his reign. But he had no son and he took a foster child named Ananda Prashad Bakshi who later inherited the estate.
Although he had power, he failed to gain property because of his cruel behavior. It was prohibited to walk past his palace wearing shoes and opening umbrella overhead. The land lord tortured the person who failed to pay taxes. He had a prison where he detained and tortured the defiant subjects.
He died in a hospital in Kolkata and his son Promod Ranjon Bakshi became his heir.He lived in Kolkata permanently, though he used to come two times to his estate in attend religious festival and collect tax.
He had three sons and two daughters. His elder son Bishweshar Bakshi was a magistrate. He obtained 1st class in MA at that time and was a researcher.He came to Ulipur upazila in Kurigram district in1907 and called three musicians to collect three songs of Gupi Chandra, a famous local singer.
The 1st part of the collected songs of Gupi Chandra was published from Kolkata University in 1922 and the second part was published in 1924.Later during the separation of India and Pakistan, Bishweshar closed the land lordship and went to India.
Daily Messenger/AHS
