Jungles, history and revolutions

This time the historic monument was in a convenient location in a village called Puthia, half an hour from Rajshahi, allowing me ample time to stop and play badminton with some teenagers as I waded through the overgrown pathway on the way to the village from the main road. And when the village finally did reveal itself the decadence of the old Bengal royalty in all its decaying splendour came to light. There seemed to be two of everything: two palaces, two Shiva temples, two Govinda temples and anything else you can imagine, all intricately decorated from floor to ceiling in terracotta depicting Hindu mythology. Compared to the other sites I’ve visited these were in excellent condition, even though they’d been ravished by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s Liberation war. History was everywhere in this village, interwoven with the daily lives of the people: herding their goats through once palatial grounds, scrubbing their clothes on the tiles of the queen’s swimming pool, sipping tea under the arches of an octagonal temple. The main Rajbari (palace) was now being used as a college, and a blood-red Che Guevara curtain was draped across one of the front doors. Encroaching jungle, columns pockmarked by shrapnel, an energetic youth and revolutionary symbols – a throbbing atmosphere soaked in history and a sense of consequence.