Take a look at the Barind Research Museum at the beginning of your trip to Rajshahi. An idea of the archeological significance of the region will be found. In front of Rajshahi Sadar Hospital you will find one of the oldest museums in South Asia. The museum was established in 1910 with the help of Sarat Kumar Roy, a zamindar of Dighapatiya in Natore, Akshay Kumar Maitreya, a lawyer, and Ramaprasad Chandra, a teacher at Rajshahi Collegiate School. The foundation stone of the main museum building was laid in 1917 by Lord Carmichael, the then Governor of Bengal. In 1984, the Barind Research Museum became the responsibility of Rajshahi University. In eight galleries, about one and a half thousand stone and metal statues, more than two thousand ancient coins, about one thousand terracotta plaques and various specimens are being displayed in this museum.
In the first gallery of the museum you can see the artefacts of the Indus Valley Civilization (2500 BC), archeological finds from the Paharpur excavations, Persian Farman and Bengali documents, Sanskrit scripts in old Bengali script, Islamic metal tablets, handwritten Quran Sharif, Bengali and culture manuscripts, Various sculptures made of stone and bronze, ancient relics found at Nalanda in Bihar and other places in India.
The second gallery has stone statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities, modern wooden sculptures.
The third gallery has Hindu sculptures, sun idols, Ganesha idols and Vishnu idols.
The sights of the fourth gallery are the idols of Goddesses like Durga, Gauri, Uma, Parvati, Matrika, Chamunda etc. in different times and forms.
The fifth gallery contains statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Dara, Jain, Tirthankara and minor deities of Hinduism.
The sixth gallery of the museum is decorated with Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and ancient Bengali stone inscriptions, carved stones of the Muslim era, mihrabs of mosques, ornate squares, cannons of the Sher Shah period, etc.
In the upper row of the verandah of the museum there are terracotta plaques in Paharpur and in the lower row there are terracotta plaques found in Paharpur and in the lower row there are Hindu and Buddhist sculptures. Apart from this, there are various specimens of ancient Hindu and Muslim civilizations in the museum premises.
It is open from April to October from 10 am to 5 pm and from November to March from 10 am to 4 pm. It is open on Fridays from 2.30 pm to 5 pm. Weekly holiday is Thursday. Besides, the Barind Research Museum is closed on holidays declared by Rajshahi University.