Panam City, Sonargaon

Panam City is located at Sonargaon in Narayanganj. This City is one of the 100 most ruined historical cities in the world. In 2006 World Monument Fund, Panam city has listed as one of the 100 most ruined historical cities in the world. It is situated 27 miles southeast from the capital city Dhaka. The city is spread over an area of 20 sq km in Sonargaon. Boro (big) City, Khas City & Panam City- of these three cities of ancient Sonargaon, Panam was the most interesting. There are 52 buildings in this city which are several centuries old, which are related to the history of the Baro Bhuiyans of Bengal.

Per the history, the present Sonargaon was the olden “Suvarnagram”. Suvarnagram is a thousand years olden resolution, was one of the capitals and river ports of the East Bengal. Local Hindu king Danujmadhob Doshoroth Dev established his capital in this area in the 13^th century A.D. Sonargaon was one of the capitals and administrative hubs of independent Bangal Sultanate till 1610 after it came under Mughals occupation.

In the 15^th century, Isa Khan established the first capital of Bengal at Sonargaon. The city is bounded on the east by the Meghna River & on the west by the Shitalakshya River. Basically, that time the cloths used to come to this country from abroad through muslin cloth used to go abroad from this country.  At that time the East India Company started commercial activities. As a result, the city was built in the style of colonial architecture inspired by Europe.

This Panam was the ancient city of Sonargaon. The rich hindu traders laid the foundation of Panam City in the years of the 19^th century. It contains 52 buildings standing on both sides of a road that draw out from east to south and calculates 600 meters in length and 5 meters in width. A large number of the buildings are rectangular, north-south drawn out up and 1 to 3 storied. As per the structural & architectural design of these buildings, European arty skills have been mixed together with those of the Mughals. In addition, the neighborhood architects applied their own arty skills in building of those structures. The buildings have been made up with bricks of various sizes and plastered with lime & brick-dust, mosaic, colorful glasses, Chinitikri and wooden beams for roofs.

Most of the houses in the city are single storey or two storeys. Originally this city was the settlement of rich Hindu traders. Their business was in Dhaka-Kolkata. These rich Hindus built this city. After the Mughal rule of Sonargaon on 1611 A.D, the construction of roads and bridges established a direct link between the capital city and the Panam area.  There are now 52 houses in Paman City. There are 31 houses on the north side and 21 houses on the South side of Panam Road. Each house is divided into interior and exterior. Inside each house there is an open yard. The city had two canals and five ponds on either side for water supply. Almost every house had a well. In order to keep the city free from water logging, the land of this city is sloping towards the canal. The only way to get around the city is theough the middle of the city. Apart from residential houses, there are temples, churches, monasteries, bathrooms, dancehalls, galleries, courts room, secret path etc inside the city. There are some other structures around Panam City such as Chhota Sardar Bari, Isa Khan’s Toran, Nilkuthi, Banik Basti, Thakur Bari etc.

How to go?

There are some buses from Gulistan to Mograpara Bus stand. They are- Swadesh Paribahan, Doyel Paribahan, Borak Paribahan etc. Non AC and AC buses are also available for this route. The rent will be for Ac bus in TK.60-70 and non Ac TK.40-50. From Mograpara, you can go to Panam City by rickshaw/auto rickshaw.

Where to eat?

There are no good quality restaurants around Panam City. There are many restaurants in Moagrapara. You have to eat from there.

It is our Responsibility to keep our tourist spots clean. Let’s keep the spots neat & clean as we go around. Happy Travelling  😉