December 6, 2010

Wedding Photography in Bangladesh


Your wedding day is an extremely special day in your life. That is the day that you want everything to be perfect – and the photographer you choose will play an important part to ensure that your Big Day is captured in such a way that it will keep all your wonderful memories fresh and alive, every time you revisit your wedding album.




Welcome to SnapsBD - Creative Wedding Photography.

We create an accurate, unforgettable and enjoyable reflection of your wedding. We believe in the fun aspect that a wedding day invariably brings; the importance of individual, couple, and family portraits; and most of all, to capture all the special moments.


All our photos are taken digitally with professional equipments, and all digital post-processing are done personally. This ensures that your reproductions are of exceptional quality.


Every wedding is an individual affair and has its own requirements. We therefore design all our packages around your requirements and take into consideration all aspects of your Big Day. If you are interested in hiring us, we are happy to discuss anything about your wedding or put together a photography package that suits your NEEDS & BUDGET.


What we offer you for your wedding:

* Not only one, but TWO photographers on the day covering your wedding – each from a different angle – literally nothing will be lost for future memories.

* We can give pre and post wedding attention to the bride and groom. Female Photographer available for Bridal Photo shoots in parlour especially for brides.

* We only accept ONE wedding for the day, in order to give exclusive attention to YOUR wedding.

* Our price includes all digital post processing of the photos – including special effects, black & whites, sepia tint, and soft focus where required.

* You are welcome to give creative input in the above processes.

* All photos making the final selection will be placed on CD / DVD for you in High Resolution – this is the equivalent of receiving the negatives, and will enable you to do future printing of all your photos.

* We pride ourselves in our passion, creativity, professionalism, enthusiasm, easy going personalities and the value for money packages which we offer.

More Photos -
SnapsBD at Flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/snapsbd
SnapsBD at Facebook - www.facebook.com/snapsbd

SnapsBD - Creative Wedding Photography in Bangladesh.
Voice: +8801712058079
Email: nahar248@yahoo.com
Blog: snapsbd.blogspot.com
Web: www.snapsbd.com

April 27, 2010

PUTHIA

Puthia is 23km (14mi) east of Rajshahi and 16km (10mi) west of Natore. It is in Rajshahi District. Puthia has the largest number of historically important Hindu structures in Bangladesh.

Shiva Temple:

The most amazing of the village’s monuments is the Govinda Temple, which was erected between 1823 and 1895 by one of the maharanis of the Puthia estate. It’s a large square structure crowned by a set of miniature ornamental towers. It’s covered by incredibly intricate designs in terracotta depicting scenes from Hindu epics, which give it the appearance of having been draped by a huge red oriental carpet. The ornate Siva Temple is an imposing and excellent. Example of this five-spire Hindu style of temple architecture common in northern India. The ornate temple has three tapering tiers topped by four spires. It’s decorated with stone carvings and sculptural works, which unfortunately were disfigured during the War of Liberation.



Jagannath Temple or Govinda:

The village’s 16-century Jagannath Temple is one of the finest examples of a hut-shaped temple: measuring only 5m (16ft) on each side, it features a single tapering tower, which rises to a height of 10m (33ft). Its western facade is adorned with terracotta panels of geometric design.


Raajbari:


More Details..

MOHASTHANGARH


History:
Mohasthangarh is one of the main attractions in north Bengal. It was the capital of Kingdom of the Mourjo, the Gupta and the Sen Dynasty. This is the ancient archeological and historical which was, established in 2500 BC.

Location:
It is the oldest archaeological site of Bangladesh is on the western bank of river Karatoa 18 km. north of Bogra town beside Bogra-Rangpur Road.

Description:
The spectacular site is an imposing landmark in the area having a fortified, oblong enclosure measuring 5000 feet by 4500 feet with an average height of 15 ft. from the surrounding paddy fields. Beyond the fortified area, other ancient ruins fan out within a semicircle of about five miles radius. Several isolated mounds, the local names of which are Govinda Bhita Temple, Khodai Pathar Mound, Mankalir Kunda, Parasuramer Bedi, Jiyat Kunda etc. surround the fortified city. This 3rd century archaeological site is still held to be of great sanctity by the Hindus. Every year (mid-April) and once in every 12 years (December) thousands of Hindu devotees join the bathing ceremony on the bank of river Karatoa. A visit to Mahasthangarh site museum will open up for you wide variety of antiquities, ranging from terracotta objects to gold ornaments and coins recovered from the site. Now it is one of the major tourist spots maintained by Bangladesh archeological Department. You can go to Mohasthanagar from Bogra town, 10 km. away. Don’t forget to visit Mohasthangar museum while visiting Mohasthangar. Mohasthan Buddhist Stambho is another attraction for the tourists; it is locally called as Behula’s Basar.

KANTAJI'S TEMPLE - DINAJPUR

Photo: The original Beautiful Kantaji's Temple.

Photo: Now the Kantaji's Temple.

Kantaji's Temple is in Dinajpur district. It is the most ornate among the late medieval temples of Bangladesh is the Kantajee’s temple near Dinajpur town, which was established in the year 1722 by Ram Nath, son of Maharaja Pran Nath .The temple, a 51' square three storied edifice, rests on a slightly curved raised plinth of sandstone blocks, believed to have been quarried from the ruins of the ancient city of Bangarh near Gangharampur in West Bengal. It was originally a navaratna temple, crowned with four richly ornamental corner towers on two stores and a central one over the third stored.

Kantaji's Temple is an earthquake at the end of the 19th century. In spite of this, the monument rightly claims to bathe finest extant example of its type in brick and terracotta, built by Bengali artisans. The central cells is surrounded on all sides by a covered verandah, each pierced by three entrances, which are separated by equally ornate dwarf brick pillars, Corresponding to the three delicately cusped entrances of the balcony, the sanctum has also three richly decorated arched openings on each face. Every inch of the temple surface is beautifully embellished with exquisite terracotta plaques, representing flora fauna, geometric motifs, mythological scenes and an astonishing array of contemporary social scenes and favorite pastimes. The beautiful wall paints of this temple tell us the story of Ramayan-Mohabharat, Krishna-Lila and Dev-Devies.

More about Kantaji's Temple..

There are some other interesting places to visit in Dinajpur which are Dinajpur Rajbari and Rajbari Kali Temple.

Kali Temple:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamal-imran/3061547828/
Rajbari: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65895639@N00/3097642866/

PAHARPUR



Paharpur Buddhist Monastery is another tourist attraction of North Bengal. Paharpur is a small village 5 km. west of Jamalganj in the greater Rajshahi district. You can go to Paharpur from Jaipur district. It’s only 10 km from Jaipur. King Dharma Pal established Paharpur Buddhist Monastery in 7th century, which is the most important and the largest known monastery south of the Himalayas, has been excavated. The main Mandir is in the centeri of this Monastery. This 7th century archaeological find covers approximately an area of 27 acres of land.

The entire establishment, occupying a quadrangular court , measuring more than 900 ft. externally on each side, has high enclosure- walls about 16 ft. in thickness and from 12 ft. to 15 ft. height. With elaborate gateway complex on the north, there are 45 cells on the north and 44 in each of the other three sides with a total number of 177 rooms. The architecture of the pyramidal cruciform temples profoundly influenced by those of South-East Asia, especially Myanmar and Java. A small site-Museum built in 1956-57 houses the representative collection of objects recovered from the area, where you can see the statues of Buddha and Vishnu. The excavated findings have also been preserved at the Varendra Research Museum at Rajshahi. The antiquities of the museum include terracotta plaques, images of different gods and goddesses, potteries, coins, inscriptions, ornamental bricks and other minor clay objects.

MAJOR ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES AND HISTORICAL SITES IN BANGLADESH

1. Paharpur

2. Dinajpur Kantaji's Temple

3. Mahasthangar

4. Puthia Shiva Temple

5. Mainamati

6. Bagherhat world Heritage Mosque

7. Varendra Research Museum , Rajshahi

8. Sonargaon the old capital Panam City

9. Lalbagh Fort

10. Ahsan Manjil

11. Tajhat Razbaari,Rangpur

12. Parobarpur mosque, Shatkhira

13. Kushumba mosque, Naogaon

14. Curzon Hall, Dhaka

ARCHAEOLOGY OF BANGLADESH

Archaeology, archeology, or archeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, bifocals, and landscapes. Because archaeology's aim is to understand humankind, it is a humanistic endeavor. Furthermore, due to its analysis of human cultures, it is therefore a subset of anthropology, which contains: Physical anthropology, Cultural anthropology, Archaeology, and linguistics. The goals of archaeology vary, and there is debate as to what its aims and responsibilities are. Some goals include the documentation and explanation of the origins and development of human cultures, understanding culture history, chronicling cultural evolution, and studying human behavior and ecology, for both prehistoric and historic societies.

Of the archaeological sites in Bangladesh, the most important are paharpur (Pahadpur) in Naogaon, mahasthan (Mahasthan) in Bogra, and mainamati (Mainamati) in Comilla. Each is unique in its own way. Paharpur is the largest monastery and temple. Mahasthan is not only the one city site among the mostly religious sites in Bangladesh but also a city going back to the distant past (3rd - 2nd century BC). It is contemporary with the early historic cities of the Gangetic valley - Vaishali, Pataliputra, and Kaushambi - to name only a few. Mainamati's uniqueness lies in its being a complex of religious establishments - monasteries and temples of latter day Buddhism (of c 6th to 13th century AD) - extending over miles on the hill-top. Of these Buddhist remains, the only exception may be the Charpatra Mura temple, which may have been of Vaisnavite affiliation.

Sir Alexander cunningham's archaeological expeditions in areas now forming Bangladesh was carried out in 1879-80 and included Mahasthan and Paharpur. Cunningham also reported on bhasu vihara (Bhasu Vihara) near Mahasthan, Jogi Gupha near Paharpur, Ghatnagar, and Debar Dighi. Some other British administrators like EV Westmacott (1875), H Beveridge (1878), and CJ O'Donnel had already written on the ruins of Paharpur and Mahasthangarh. Owing to non-cooperation of the local zamindar, Cunningham could not investigate the site long enough to understand the real nature of Paharpur. Excavations carried out much later, however, proved that it was the remains of the biggest Buddhist monastery in the subcontinent (very recently Vikramashila has been claimed to be slightly larger).

However the outstanding achievement of Cunningham during his 1879-80 tour was his brilliant identification of Mahasthangarh with the city of pundranagar on the basis of huen-tsang's itinerary. At a later date (1931), a stone plaque discovered from the site, bearing an inscription in early Brahmi characters (mahasthan brahmi inscription), points to the site's probable association with the Mauryan empire, perhaps as a provincial capital.

Initial excavations at these sites, particularly Paharpur and Mahasthan, were begun by some private research bodies, the foremost being the varendra research society of Rajshahi, led by Kumar Sarat Kumar ray of Dighapatia in association with some enthusiastic gentlemen of Rajshahi town, notably Akshay Kumar maitreya, a lawyer and Ramaprasad chanda, a teacher in the local collegiate school, all of whom became famous later for their scholarly achievements. The society, established in 1910, made archaeological tours in areas around Rajshahi, undertook small excavations, wrote and published reports -all financed by Sarat Kumar Ray - and built up its collection of antiquities, particularly sculptures. These activities led to the Varendra Research Society Museum, established in 1919. The Society is now extinct and the museum, now called the varendra research museum, is part of Rajshahi University.

An earlier landmark in the rise of private initiative in the development of archaeological studies in Bengal was the establishment of vangiya sahitya parishad in Calcutta in 1893-94. The Parishad gradually built up a rich collection of sculptures. After 1905, its branches proliferated in such far-flung areas as Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Sylhet and Comilla, each having its own collection of sculptures. It is also apt here to recall the significant contribution made by the indefatigable scholar NK bhattasali, curator of Dhaka Museum from 1914, whose many-sided genius and dedication enriched archaeological studies in Bangladesh. He was an epigraphist, a numismatist, both ancient and medieval, and also an art historian. He explored tirelessly sites mostly in the Dhaka area - savar, vikramapura, wari-bateshwar etc. But he also visited Mainamati in Comilla. Two of his works, Iconography of Hindu Buddhist Sculptures in the Dhaka Museum and The Coins and Chronology of the Early Independent Sultans of Bengal, are still important and widely referred.

Archaeologists are also concerned with the study of methods used in the discipline, and the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings underlying the questions archaeologists ask of the past. The tasks of surveying areas in order to find new sites, excavating sites in order to recover cultural remains, classification, analysis, and preservation are all important phases of the archaeological process. These are all important sources of information. Given the broad scope of the discipline there is a great deal of cross-disciplinary research in archaeology. It draws upon anthropology, history, art history, classics, ethnology, geography, geology, linguistics, physics, information sciences, chemistry, statistics, pale ecology, paleontology, pale zoology and pale botany.