Conservation work of Boro Kuthi starts

The Department of Archaeology has started conservation works of Rajshahi's Boro Kuthi yesterday. The historic building bears the history of Dutch indigo and silk business in the 18th century.

Rajshahi Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton inaugurated the works at a function organised at Boro Kuthi premises by the Department of Archaeology.

The department is spending Tk 4.85 lakh for the initial conservation works, deputy director Nahid Sultana said in her speech.

After the initial works, more will follow in the future in order to turn the building into a museum, she said.

The two-storied building with 12 rooms was used as the centre of silk and indigo trade by Dutch and British traders.

After the fall of Nawab Siraj-ud Doula in 1757, the Dutch East India Company purchased it and sold it to Robert Watson and Company in 1833.

After the partition of 1947, the building housed government supplies for a while.

Rajshahi University acquired it in 1953 and used it as its administrative building and later turned it into a teachers' club.

Rajshahi City Corporation has been bargaining with RU for handing it over to the Department of Archaeology since 2011.

In 2018, the department declared the building as a protected archaeological site.

In his speech, Mayor Liton said the conservation works is being undertaken so that it will attract visitors to the site.