Architecture of Dhaka
The architecture of Dhaka is a confluence of many architectural styles. From the Sena temples built by Ballal Sen, to the Mughal architecture of the Mughals, to the Indo-Saracenic style of the colonial era, to 20th century steel and chrome of skyscrapers. Dhaka has a colonial core in the river port area, surrounded by progressively newer areas as one travels away from the Buriganga, punctuated with old temples, churches and mosques.
Styles of architecture
Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture, an amalgam of Islamic, Persian and Indian architecture, is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals in the 16th and 17th centuries in what is now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It is symmetrical and decorative in style.Some of the first and most characteristic examples that remain of early Mughal architecture were built in the short reign of emperor Sher Shah Suri, who was not a Mughal; they include a mosque known as the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque at Purana Quila, Delhi, and the military architecture of the Old Fort in Delhi, the Lalbagh Fort in Bangladesh, and Rohtas Fort, near Jhelum in Pakistan. His mausoleum, octagonal in plan and set upon a plinth in the middle of an artificial lake, is in Sasaram, and was completed by his son and successor Islam Shah Suri.
Indo-Saracenic
The Indo-Saracenic was an architectural style movement by British architects in the late 19th century in British India. It drew elements from native Indo-Islamic and Indian architecture, and combined it with the Gothic revival and Neo-Classical styles favoured in Victorian Britain. The style gained momentum in the west with the publication of the various views of India by William Hodges and the Daniell duo, from about 1795.Notable buildings
Many historic buildings are still fully functional and host government, business or educational establishments.Lalbagh Fort
Lalbagh Fort is an incomplete Mughal palace 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 of Bengal, 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 Iran Dukht nicknamed Pari Bibi died here in 1684 and this led him to consider the fort to be ominous.Ruplal House
Ruplal House is a grand 19th century building or mansion in Old Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was initially owned by Dhaka's infamous Armenian landlord Aratun and later bought and erected jointly by two Hindu affluent merchant brothers named Ruplal Das and Raghunath, sons of Swarup Chandra, on the northern bank of Buriganga overlooking a riverfront promenade in the Farashganj district of old Dhaka.Ruplal House was built on the site at a huge cost, according to the design of an architect of the Martin Company in Calcutta. Divided into two unequal blocks in slightly different styles, it is a two-storey edifice. It presents a Grand River front, about 9144 m long. It replicated Greek Doric column and there used to be a huge clock at the top of the building. In the earthquake of 1897. Its ground plan follows the shape of the letter 'E', with three arms extending towards the north or the city side, of which the middle arm projects about 1830 m. It accommodates a grand portico carried on a series of lofty semi-Corinthian fluted columns, and surmounted by a triangular pediment, characteristic of Renaissance architecture.
The two blocks include, in two floors, over fifty rooms of various sizes and of them the central hall on the upper floor of the more impressive western wing was an elegantly decorated dance hall with a wooden floor. On the north and south two broad verandas run the entire length of the block and are supported on either round semi-Corinthian columns or rectangular brick pillars with segmented or trefoil arches above.
Bara Katra
The Bara Katra is a historical and architectural monument located in the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is a palatial building dating to the reign of the Mughal dynasty in the Bengal region. It is situated to the south of Chawk Bazar close to the north bank of the river Buriganga.Curzon Hall
thumbCurzon Hall is part of the school of science of the University of Dhaka. With its significance in education during the post independence era of Bangladesh as well as afterwards, it has become an emblem of educational tradition of the country.