Idyllic and restful Panamnagar
At Sonargaon's Panamnagar was a rich, luxurious, multi-dimensional and somewhat mind-boggling civilization. Sultans reigned here for 372 years. Emperor Akbar established the province or 'sube' after the victory of Bengal in 1576 AD. Even before that, the Ilyas Shahi dynasty was established in 1342. It had palaces, temples, dance-rooms, bathrooms, shelter rooms and escape-rooms. The people who lived there were rich, successful and engaged in the jewellery, muslin and other lucrative businesses.
Artist Biren Shome's sketches and paintings of Panamnagar, currently on display at the Shilpangan Gallery titled “Date Down Memory Lane”, speak of that culture, history and society of the time. The exhibition opened on December 27 and remains on till January 10.
Why has Biren, an artist of repute, focused on Panamnagar? He chooses to delineate this historical place, with which he fell in love when he went there in the 1965 batch of the students of the Dhaka Arts College. He has seen the place crumbling with time, but the government has taken no action. However, now the government has woken up to the fact of its imminent decay, and is determined to renovate the palace.
Biren has done 10 Panamnagar creations in watercolour, and other boats on the Buriganga and Acharya Ghat (going to Faridpur).These were in the exhibition “Joler Dharey”. Since then, Panamnagar has sunk deep into his psyche. In 2010 the artist did a workshop in watercolour with 50 students, going to Panamnagar by bus.
In 2013 and 2014, Biren has been working seriously on this subject. He took photographs and employed several photographers also for the project. He read books on the topic and gathered information from research papers like the PhD paper of Shikoa Nazneen from Jahangirnagar University.
The architectural view of “Zamindar House” and “Nach Ghar” took on a life of their own with light streaming through the glass windows, the dancers and tipplers had a merry life of their own. The floral designs of the upper roof, the iron gates with their trellises and intertwining motifs in wrought iron bringing in floral and leaf designs and more ornamental motifs were intermingled in this cornucopia of motifs. To add variation, the artist took pictures from the top of the buildings, and through the arches and windows, as well as between the pillars.
What is important is that all the lines and forms have been created out of the artist's vivid imagination. Even the “Pankhiraj Pool” has entered the painter's palette. Nothing is slipshod or easily attained. The sketches and paintings are a labour of love. The “Saraswati” image just as the other goddesses and bird images have been preserved and painted for all time to come with care.
The paintings and pictures are soft and inimitable, and transport one to a world of dreams.
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