Kumarkhali Upazila Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)

Kushtia - a small town in Bangladesh that Tagore fans cannot miss.

Located on the banks of the Padma River downstream of the Ganges, the small town of Kushtia, besides the little-known philosophical master Lalon Shah among the Chinese, also has a very important connection with another Indian literary master who is almost well-known in China, Tagore. Tagore spent a long time here, which had a crucial impact on his literary achievements. Tagore only briefly stayed at Tagore Lodge in Kushtia city and managed a failed business, but Shilaidaha Kuthibari-Rabindranath Tagore's Residence, located about ten kilometers outside the city, was where he lived for a long time and devoted himself to his poetry creation. To get to Kuthibari, you have to take a tuk-tuk. Just last night, a local I met while wandering around the city saw me bargaining and offered to ride his motorcycle to take me there. Kuthibari is actually a mansion built by Tagore's grandfather, located in a picturesque field on the bank of the Padma River. The countryside along the way from the city to Tagore's former residence is very comfortable. The local person who took me here on a bike seemed to have some influence, and we didn't have to pay at the toll booth on the way. When we arrived at Kuthibari, I was supposed to buy a foreigner ticket for 100 taka, but the guard let us in directly. Taking photos is not allowed inside Kuthibari, but he allowed us to take photos freely. The appearance of Kuthibari is very special, and it is difficult to describe its style, even a bit abstract. This house was built in the mid-19th century. Tagore lived here for more than ten years since 1880 and wrote many immortal works influenced by the Bangladeshi countryside. However, his works were mostly written in Bengali. In 1912, Tagore returned to Kuthibari and devoted himself to translating his works into English, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. The current Kuthibari is a small Tagore Memorial Hall, basically a photo exhibition of his life, and also displays some of the utensils he used. Outside is a small park where people row boats in the pond, sit under umbrellas and drink sweet tea, and wash their lungs. After visiting Kuthibari, I took a bus back to Dhaka. It took more than 7 hours to cover the 260-kilometer journey, but it allowed me to witness the poetic scene of the sunset falling into the fields at dusk. It was this image that made me understand why Tagore was so enamored with this land, and why the people of this land are so attached to their language.