Jagannath Hall
Jagannath Hall of the Dhaka University is a residence hall for students from religious minorities, including Buddhists, Christians, and Hindus. It is one of the three original residence halls that date from the founding of the university in 1921, and is modelled on the colleges of the University of Oxford, a complex of buildings including residences, meeting rooms, dining rooms, a prayer hall, gardens, and sporting facilities. Of the approximately 2,000 students of the hall, half live in the residences, and half are non-residential students affiliated with the hall. Several professors at the university hold the positions of house tutors and provost at the hall.
In 1971, the Pakistan Army killed over 300 students at this Hindu-majority dormitory.
Structures
The hall includes four residential buildings:- Govinda Chandra Dev Building
- Rabindra Bhavan
- Sontosh Chandra Bhattacharya Bhavan
- October Memorial Building
- Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta Building
History
Establishment
Kisorilal Roy Chowdhury, the Zamindar of Baliati in Saturia, Manikganj, who had previously established Jagannath College named after his father Jagannath Saha, also established this hall of the University of Dhaka.The University of Dhaka was established in 1921 as a merger of the two institutes of higher learning that existed in the city at that time: Dhaka College, a government institution, and Jagannath College, which was privately funded. With the Jagannath College Act of the Indian Legislative Council, that college was renamed as Jagannath Intermediate College, and the second- and third-year students were transferred to the University of Dhaka the following year, along with many teachers and equipment such as library books. Two residence halls at Dhaka University were then named after the contributing colleges: Jagannath Hall and Dhaka Hall.
The first provost of this hall was Professor Naresh Chandra Sengupta, who served from 1921 to 1924. Other famous provosts include philosopher Govinda Chandra Dev who was murdered by the occupying Pakistan Army in 1971, along with the then-current provost Professor Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta.