Located in the quiet rural settlement of Itna, this was the family home of physician and celebrated crime-fiction author Dr. Nihar Ranjan Gupta, who introduced the detective Kiriti Roy to Bengali literature. Declared a protected antiquity in 2003, the complex includes two-storey brick living quarters with wooden shuttered windows, inner service courts and old boundary walls. Although partially weathered, the estate preserves the quiet atmosphere of a late nineteenth-century country manor surrounded by betel-nut groves. Ask permission from local caretakers before exploring the grounds.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Entry free; return auto-rickshaw hire roughly ৳250–350
How to get to Nihar Ranjan Gupta's Ancestral House
In Itna village, about 18 km east of Narail town in Lohagara upazila. A shared CNG to Lohagara followed by an auto-rickshaw to Itna takes 45 minutes.
Narail town is about 138 km from Dhaka, around 2.5 hours by road. Every way to get there is in the Narail guide.
More to see in Narail
Photo: Reaid Hossain, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons S. M. Sultan Memorial Complex এস এম সুলতান স্মৃতি সংগ্রহশালা
The riverside studio, grave and art gallery of painter S. M. Sultan, showcasing his large-scale canvases and preserved living quarters.
- Best time
- November to March
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Entry roughly ৳20 for locals, ৳100 for foreign visitors; rickshaw from Rupganj about ৳25–35
Photo: Jubair1985, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Shishu Swarga শিশুস্বর্গ
An art academy and sixty-foot double-decker boat studio founded by S. M. Sultan to teach painting and nature studies to village children.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- About an hour
- Cost
- Entry free; rickshaw from town centre roughly ৳25–40
Goalbari Otter Fishing গোয়ালবাড়ির ভোঁদড় দিয়ে মাছ শিকার
A rare living heritage in Goalbari village where traditional fishermen use trained otters to herd fish into their nets.
- Best time
- October to February
- Give it
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- No official fee; hiring a local country boat and tipping the fishing family roughly ৳500–1,000
Photo: Md. Shazidul, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Chitra Riverfront চিত্রা নদীর ঘাট
The wide river bends in Narail town near Victoria Bridge, renowned for the annual autumn S. M. Sultan memorial boat races.
- Best time
- September to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free to visit; hiring a country boat for an hour costs about ৳150–250