Baliati Palace

Baliati Palace was built by a family of salt merchants who became landowners, largely in the nineteenth century, and it is the largest surviving zamindar complex in Bangladesh: four separate blocks in a row behind a long colonnaded facade with Corinthian columns and a raised terrace, running to something like two hundred rooms in total, with inner courtyards, a temple, tanks and outbuildings. The style is the mixture of European classical detail and Bengali plan that landowning families across the delta built in, and the scale is the point. Much of it is empty and unrestored, with rooms open to the sky in places, and part is maintained as a museum with furniture and household objects.

History

Gobinda Ram Saha, a salt merchant who inherited and enlarged his family's trade, founded the zamindari at Baliati, which came to stretch as far as Narayanganj. Its seven palaces, with some 200 rooms, stand on about 5.88 acres inside a moat and a wall, with a large pond behind, and the family is said to have left for India after the partition of 1947; the Bangladesh archaeology department has looked after the palaces since 1987 (Wikipedia, Baliati Zamindari).

What you'll find

• A long colonnaded facade - Corinthian columns across four linked blocks.
• Around two hundred rooms - among the largest zamindar complexes in the country.
• Inner courtyards and tanks - the plan behind the display front.
• Unrestored wings - rooms open to the sky beside the museum sections.

When to go

November to March. Two hours. It closes on some days and has restricted Friday hours. The drive from Dhaka is slow. Mornings are cooler.

Before you go

Much of the complex is derelict and closed off. Restoration has been partial and slow. Interpretation is limited. The road out from Dhaka is congested and takes longer than the distance suggests.

Nearby

Manikganj is south; Dhaka lies east.

Key facts