The archeological site of Mahasthangarh lies in the north of Bangladesh, near the city Bogra. It dates from the 3rd century B.C. and now consists of mainly ruins. I visited it on my tour of Bangladesh in December 2006.

First we have a look inside the little museum. Clay figures that were found on site are displayed, as well as many Hindu sculptures from later date. The original inhabitants of the area were Buddhist at first, then Hindu, and then Muslim from the 14th century on.

We walked on to the citadel. It's a lovely walk in the rural surroundings: not too hot, not too crowded. The citadel used to encircle a large city, The brick walls are still there, jokingly called the 'Great Wall of Bangladesh' by my guide. The land inside the walls now mainly is used as vegetable gardens (harvesting potatoes, beans and pumpkins). From the wall there are also fine views of the bright green rice fields and the yellow mustard seeds. A couple of children are following us enthousiastically, but their English conversation skills halt at 'What's your name'.

Unfortunately I doubt that Mahansthangarh will ever make it on to the World Heritage List. Bangladesh has a couple of more interesting sites on offer, of which I especially liked Puthia and Kantanagar. These sadly don't figure on the current Tentative List of Bangladesh.