Historical Places of Bangladesh /Kamrul-/8801717335900 gmkhasan@gmail.com

1. To

2. Shahid Minar
The Shaheed Minar is a national monument in
Dhaka, Bangladesh, established to commemorate
those killed during the Language
Movement demonstrations of 1952.On February
21, 1952, dozens of students and political
activists were killed when the Pakistani police
force opened fire on Bengali protesters who were
demanding equal status to their native
tongue, Bangla. The massacre occurred
near Dhaka Medical College and Ramna Park in
Dhaka. A makeshift monument was erected on
February 23 by students of University of
Dhaka and other educational institutions, but soon
demolished on February 26 by the Pakistani police
force.The Language Movement gained momentum
and after a long struggle, Bangla was given equal
status as Urdu. To commemorate the dead, the
Shaheed Minar was designed and built by Hamidur
Rahman, a Bangladeshi sculptor. The monument
stood until the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971,
when it was demolished completely
during Operation Searchlight. After Bangladesh
gained independence, it was rebuilt .Today, the
Shaheed Minar is the centre of cultural activities
in Dhaka. Every year, the Language Movement is
remembered at the monument

3. Tajrat Rajbari
Tajhat is a historical place of Bangladesh,
located near Lalbagh, Rangpur. It has a
nice Jamidarbari(Palace) which in 2005 was
turned into a museum. This museum is about
10 mins drive from Rangpur town, near
Lalbagh. The Museum was inaugurated on
March 20, 2005, by the Government of
Bangladesh Minister for Cultural Affairs,
Begum Selima Rahman and Secretary Mr.
Mahmudul Masud. Dr. Alain Labrique of the
Johns Hopkins University also made some
invited remarks.
The palace in Tajhat, commonly known
as Tajhat Rajbari was built by Maharaja
Kumar Gopal Lal Roy in the beginning of the
20th century. He was a descendent of
a Hindu khatari who emigrated from Punjab.
He was a jeweler by profession. It is believed
that from the conspicuous appearance of his
Taj or jeweledcrown his estate derived the
name of Tajhat. From the name of his estate,
the area is known as Tajhat.

4. Ahsan
Manzil
Ahsan Manzil was the official
residential palace and seat of
theDhaka Nawab Family. It is situated
on the banks of the Buriganga
River in Bangladesh. The palace is
now a museum.

5. Lalbagh
Fort
Lalbagh Fort (also known as
"Fort Aurangabad") is an
incomplete Mughalpalace
fortress at the Buriganga River in
the southwestern part
of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Construction was commenced in
1678 by Prince Muhammad
Azam during his 15-month long
vice-royalty ofBengal, but before
the work could complete, he was
recalled by Aurangzeb. His
successor, Shaista Khan, did not
complete the work, though he
stayed in Dhaka up to 1688. His
daughter bibi pari (Lady Fairy)
died here in 1684 and this led
him to consider the fort to be
ominous.

6. National
Memorial
National Memorial at Savar is a
symbol of the nation's respect
for the martyrs of the war of
Liberation. It is built with
Concrete, but made of blood. IT
stands 150 feet tall, but every
martyr it stands for stands so
much taller. It is an
achievement the dimensions of
which can be measured but it
stands for an achievement
which is immeasurable. It
stands upright for the millions
of martyrs who laid their lives
so that we may stand upright, in
honour and dignity, amongst the
nations of the world. Most
prominently visible is the 150
feet tower that stands on a
base measuring 130 feet wide.

7. National
Museum
The National Museum was established
at dhaka in AD 1913.It has been
renamed as the National Museum and
was shifted to its new building at
Shahbag in 1983. It is a four storied
building and has forty galleries under
four departments, namely, Natural
History, History and Classical Art,
Ethnography and Decorative Art and
Contemporary Art and world
Civilization.

8. National
Parliament
It is one of the most majestic public buildings in
Bangladesh. The National Parliament complex is
located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar of Dhaka city. The
National Parliament Building is an architectural
masterpiece for which the nation can be said to be
justifiably proud.The decision to construct the
National Parliament Complex at Dhaka was
originally taken in 1959. Louis I Kahn. one of the
greatest architects of the time was initially
selected for designing the complex. which would
include the National Parliament Building. Hostels
for members of parliament. ministers and
secretaries. hospitality halls and communally
buildings.All linked by roads and walkways and
surrounded by attractive gardens and lakes. The
main characteristic of the building is its
monumentally.The mass of concrete lined with
marble strips, the outer wall punctuate by pure
geometrical openings and the dominating circular
and rectangular concrete masses impart a
supreme monumentality to the building quite suited
to its noble function.

9. Shait Gambuj
Mosque
Among the many surviving monuments of
the Khan Jahan Ali style, undoubtedly the
most magnificent and largest brick mosque
in Bangladesh is the Shait Gombuj. It is
situated in Bagerhat district. For
outstanding architectural value. the World
Heritage Committee of UNESCO inscribed
Bagerhat in the World Heritage list and it got
the status of the second World Heritage site
in Bangladesh after Paharpur. Out of today's
surviving mosques, the Shait
Gombuj Mosque is the most magnificent and
certainly the largest brick mosque surviving
in Bangladesh. Its name, meaning '60
domes', is misleading as in reality, it is
roofed over with 77 small domes supported
by a forest of slender columns covering a
large prayer hall and giving it the
appearance of a medieval church crypt. At
sunrise when the rays of the sun penetrate
the eastern entrances, the interior comes to
life. There is little adornment to this building
other than the carved stone decoration to
the central mihrab at the western end of the
prayer hall. The exterior facades, with
slightly 'battered' walls, have discernible
curving cornices a concession to the local
style.

10. Chhota Sona
Masjid
One of the most graceful monuments
of the Sultanate period is the Chhota
Sona Masjid or Small Golden Mosque
at Gaur in Rajshahi. Built by one Wali
Muhammad during the reign of
Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah (1493-
1519), it was originally roofed over
with 15 gilded domes including the 3
ChauchaIqa domes in the middle
row, from which it derives its
curious name.

11. Mainama
ti
It is called the Seat of Lost Dynasties. About 8 km
to the west of Comilla town, situated 114 km
southeast of Dhaka, lies a range of low hills
known as the Mainamati-Lalmai ridge, which was
an extensive centre of Buddhist culture. On the
slopes or these hills lie scattered a treasure of
information about the early Buddhist civilization
(7th-12th Century AD.). At Salban in the middle or
the ridge, excavations have laid bare a large
Buddhist Vihara (monastery) with an imposing
central shrine. It has revealed valuable
information about the rule of the Chandra and
Deva dynasties which Flourished here from the
7th to the 12th century AD. The whole range of
hillocks runs for about 18 km and is studded with
more than 50 sites. A site museum houses the
archaeological finds which include terra cotta
plaques, bronze statues and caskets, coins,
jewellery, utensils, pottery and votive
stupas embossed with Buddhist inscriptions.

12. Baitul Mukarram-the National Mosque
It is the National Mosque of Bangladesh. Its
construction began on 1960, and has been going
on in phases. Architect T Abdul Hussain Thariani
was commissioned to design the mosque
complex. The plan included shops, offices,
libraries and parking areas within the complex.
The design of the mosque reflects the
architecture of the period as can be seen from
the use of a white and almost cube-form for the
main building. A Mosque without a dome over the
roof of its main prayer hall must have been a
unique experiment. The main building is eight
storied and 33 meters high from the ground level.
The area of the main prayer hall is 2464 SQ
meters with a mezzanine floor of 171 SQ metres
at the eastern side. Verandas surround the hall
on three of its four sides. The mihrab of the hall is
rectangular instead of semi-circular. The Baitul
Mukarram mosque is modern in its architectural
style. It has found its place in the hearts of the
Muslims because of the resemblance of its form
to the Holy Kaaba at Makkah.

13. Sonargaon
Sonargaon's importance in the pre-Muslim
period is borne out by its ancient name of
Suvarnagrama (the golden village), from
which it is obvious how the Muslim
version of the name is derived,as well as
by the existence of Langalbandh and
Panchamighat, the two traditional under
Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah, and after his
fall it was the headquarters of the eastern
province of Bengal under the Tughlaqs till
1338. Sonargaon emerged as the capital
of an independent Sultanate under
Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah (1338-1349). In
the late nineteenth and early twentieth
century Panam Nagar was developed in a
part of holy bathing places of the Hindus,
in this tract of land on the west bank of
the old Brahmaputra.Sonargaon rose to be
the seat of an independent ruler medieval
Sonargaon.

14. Star
Mosque
Star mosque, a 19th century
establishment, is a very beautiful
mosque of the city situated at
Armanitola, in the old part of Dhaka
City. In faultless Mughal style
architecture, it is a five -dome mosque
with hundreds of big and small
twinkling stars as surface
decorations. The stars have been
created by setting pieces or
chinaware on white cement. Seen
from the front and from far it looks as
if it were shining above the surface of
the earth. The inside or the mosque is
even more beautiful than the outside,
with a lovely mosaic floor and
excellent tiles with many floral
patterns set on the walls, all in
complete harmony.

15. Paharpu
r
Paharpur is treated as the Largest
Buddhist Seat of Learning of South
Asia. It is a small village, 5 km west of
Jamalganj in the greater Rajshahi
district, where the remains of the
most important and the largest known
monastery south of the Himalayas has
been excavated. This 7th century AD
archaeological find covers an area of
approximately 11 hectare. The entire
establishment, occupying a
Quadrangular court, measures more
than 300 meters and varies from 3.5 to
4.5 meters in height with an 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.

16. Hossaini
dalan
Husaini Dalan a Shiite shrine in the old part of
the city of DHAKA, attributed to the Mughal
Period. It is a common practice among the Shia
community to build edifices to commemorate
the martyrdom of al-Husain, at the battle of
Karbala in Iraq on the tenth day of Muharram 61
AH (10 October 680 AD). The building seems to
have been originally erected by one Sayyid
Murad during the governorship of SHAH SHUJA,
who, although himself a Sunni, was eager to
preserve and patronise Shiite institutions.
Traditions relate that Sayyid Murad, having seen
al-Husain in a vision erecting a tazia khana
(house of mourning), was inspired to raise the
building, which he named Husaini Dalan. The
original building may have been a small
structure, expanded to its present form in later
times. The EAST INDIA COMPANY repaired it in
1807 and 1810, and a portion of the building was
reconstructed after the earthquake of 1897.

17. Central Shahid Minar
in Jahangir Nagar
University
Inside a green picturesque
surrounding of Jahangir Nagar
University, the sprawling acres of
land holds this beautiful
monument dedicated to the
language martyrs of 1952.

18. Mahasthanga
r
It is considered the oldest
archaeological site of the county. It is
located at a distance of 18 km north or
Bogra town on the western bank of the
Karatoa river. The spectacular site is
an imposing landmark in the area.
having a long fortified enclosure.
Beyond the fortified area, other ancient
ruins fan out within a semicircle of
about 8 km radius. Several isolated
mounds, the local names of which
are Govinda Bhita Temple, Khodia
Pathar Mound, Mankalir
Kunda, Parsuramer Bedi, Jiyat
Kunda etc. surround the fortified city.
This 3rd century B.C. archaeological
site is still held to be of great sanctity
by the Hindus. Every year (mid-April)
and once every 12 years (in December)
thousands of Hindu devotees join the
bathing ceremony on the bank of the
Karatoa river.

19. World War 2
Cemetery
Second World War warrior’s graveyards
are in this Cemetery. There are 755
graves in this graveyard of the great
warriors who died d in world war
from1939 to 1945 in Chittagong areas. In
this well-preserved cemetery at a quiet
and picturesque place within the city lie
buried in eternal peace over 700 soldiers
from British, Australia, Canada, New
Zealand, India, Myanmar, East and West
Africa, The Netherlands and Japan who
laid down their lives on the Myanmar front
during the World War II. Every year a
number of tourists come here to visit this
Cemetery.

20. American
Church
This church dates from 1781 and it is still
functioning today. Compared to some of
the splendid churches elsewhere in the
world, this is a rather small, but interesting
building crowding on a narrow back street
of old Dhaka. But in the Dhaka context it is
a very important tranquil haven in the heart
of a huge crowded Muslim city.
The church supports a small Christian
community from several countries that
meets every Sunday evening. The
Armenians were once at the heart of
Bengal’s jute and leather trade but the
community has virtually vanished. For
much of the rest of the week the door to
the compound is looked but there is always
someone inside because the caretaker, his
family and others live on site. You just
need to wait or bang loudly on the door and
someone will come to let you in.

21. Mosque Baba Adam
A slightly later date the elegant 6-domed
mosque (13m x 11m) sq meters of Baba
Adam in Rampal near Dhaka was
erected by your Malik Kafur during the
reign of the last Ilyas Shahi Sultan,
Jalauddin Fateh Shah in 1483 AD. It
displays the same characteristic
features of the period such as the
faceted octagonal turrets at 4 corners,
the curved cornice. The one facade and
3 mihrabs relieved richly with beautiful
terracotta floral and hanging patterns.

22. Thanks
To
all
G.M.Kamrul Hassan
Trainer
BMTC
Bangladesh
Call No:+8801717335900
E-Mail: gmkhasan@gmail.com