Panam City in Narayanganj

     

Panam City is known as "the lost city". It is situated at Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District. Panam city was built by the upper-middle class Bengali businessmen, mainly Hindu cloth merchants, in the 19th century. It was built in the once capital of Bangladesh, Sonargaon. This city is now in ruins. In the last of 19th century, Panam city was built in Sonargaon. That time, business of cotton and other cloths were developed based on the Panam city. That time, Sonargaon got it heritage back a little. In the first part of the 20th century, some rich Hindu businessmen started to live permanently in the city. The still remaining ruins of the buildings were the residence of those businessmen. In those days, no city at the east Bengal was near as wealthy as Panam. All the buildings in the city were built facing a single road, which is 5 meters long and 600 miter wide. There still remain 52 buildings. The whole city is surrounded with artificial canals. These canals were dug to protect the city from any outside attack. There was only one bridge to enter the city in the west side. Back of every building is a pond. These ponds were used for household works. After the 1965 war of India-Pakistan, Hindu businessmen started to leave, and the city was deserted. World monument fund listed Panam city in the World 100 ruined city in 2006.

How to go:

Bus services are available to there from Gulistan, Dhaka. It will take around 1 hour to reach at the place. You have to get down from the bus at Mograpara Crossing. From the crossing, you have to take a rickshaw to reach at the ancient city, it will cost round about 20 Taka. It will be wise to start walking from the western part of the Panam city, and then move forward to eastern side until you reach to the end of the city. This is a very short path. So you can move slowly by watching the old building structures. If you have a camera you will be busy in taking photographs, that’s for sure. Also you can enter the narrow paths (path between two buildings) to watch the buildings from the back side. These buildings are controlled by the Bangladesh government and looks like they are doing it well. The area is very neat and clean. You'll find like as if you are in an unknown area. While walking through the Panam city, sometimes you'll find no one at anywhere, and it will give you a different feel. Take as much time as you can, no hurry, move slowly, and enjoy yourself.

Lok Shilpa Jadughar (Folk Art and Craft Museum) of Sonargaon was established by Bangladeshi painter Joynul Abedin on March 12, 1975. The house was built in 1901, originally called Bara Sardar Bari.

Sonakanda Fort is a Mughal river-fort located on the bank of the Shitalakshya River at Bandar, Narayanganj.

Khasnagar Dighi is a lake in Khasnagar village.