Renowned modernist painter Sheikh Mohammed Sultan lived and worked in Machimdia village beside the Chitra, portraying the raw physical resilience of rural peasant life on massive canvasses. Following his death in 1994, the government built this memorial complex housing his tomb, preserved easel, paintbrushes, and an art gallery displaying twenty original works. Stroll through the open courtyard where Sultan kept peacocks, monkeys and deer, and view personal memorabilia from his international exhibitions. Visit on a weekday morning to view the paintings in natural daylight without crowds.
- 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
How to get to S. M. Sultan Memorial Complex
In Machimdia village, just across the Chitra river from Narail town. A 10-minute rickshaw hop from Rupganj Bazar over the Victoria Bridge.
Narail town is about 138 km from Dhaka, around 2.5 hours by road. Every way to get there is in the Narail guide.
The gallery is closed on Fridays until the afternoon; photography inside the painting hall is restricted.
More to see in Narail
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
Nihar Ranjan Gupta's Ancestral House নীহাররঞ্জন গুপ্তের পৈতৃক বাড়ি
The secluded colonial estate in Itna village of novelist Nihar Ranjan Gupta, creator of the famous Bengali sleuth Kiriti Roy.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Entry free; return auto-rickshaw hire roughly ৳250–350