(This article first appeared online on 9th August 2023 in Mint Lounge, India https://lifestyle.livemint.com/food/discover/dhaka-food-trail-bangladesh-111691551231166.html)
Showing posts with label BANGLADESH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BANGLADESH. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Armenia via Dhaka
Once home to a bustling population of Armenian traders, Armanitola—the Armenian Quarter of Old Dhaka is a fine repository of history and culture, reinforcing the strong bond between Bengal and Armenia
By Raul Dias
I’m pretty sure that I must have made quite a spectacle of myself that sweltering summer afternoon in Dhaka, waving a soiled 100 Taka note in front of scores of bewildered noses walking past me. Even my pithy attempt at mouthing a few Bengali words, seemed to fall on deaf ears. But finally—after almost giving up any remaining hope—my phone’s wavering GPS decided to kick into action. And thus, I found myself standing in front of a structure I had been staring at every time I coughed up a 100 Taka note over my previous two days in Bangladesh.
To put it all into context, I had made the trek down the dusty alleyways of Old Dhaka with the sole aim of visiting the rather unusual Tara Masjid. For the iconic and ironically named “Star Mosque” finds a place of glory for itself on the ‘tails’ side of a 100 Taka bank note. All this thanks to its four domes that are decorated in the rare Chini Tikri (Chinese art) porcelain tile mosaic work in star motifs.
But little did I know then that that wonderful thing called serendipity had something entirely different planned out for me…
The Other Armani!
Unbeknownst to me, I had meandered my way into Old Dhaka’s Armenian quarter. Called Armanitola, the small neighbourhood on the shores of the turgid Buriganga river was once the nerve center of Armenian life in East Bengal. For this was where jute and leather traders from the South Caucasian country in Eurasia decided to set up both shop and home.
And just a mere 300 meters south of Tara Masjid, is what is believed to be the ‘Ground Zero’ of this unique quarter. Simply called the Armenian Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Holy Resurrection was built in 1781 by the traders on a plot of land that they had earlier used as a cemetery.
This edifice, with its hexagonal, crucifix-topped steeple and generous narthex reminded me not just of St. Peter’s Armenian Apostolic Church in my home city of Mumbai, but also of the similarly-structured Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth in nearby Kolkata. But besides Mumbai, Kolkata and other places in West Bengal like Saidabad, even a few other Indian cities like Chennai once had a thriving Armenian population and grand churches to cater to the growing congregation that had been settling in India since the 16th century.
Blast from the past
It is weeks after I return from Bangladesh, as I leaf through a copy of the Anne Basil authored Armenian Settlements in India at Mumbai’s Asiatic Library, do I realise that there was not one, but two separate waves of an Armenian exodus to India (which Bangladesh was a part of then). The first of which was in 1645 with the aforementioned merchants arriving in Bengal, purely for trading purposes. Interestingly, the book even references an agreement of 1688 between the English East India Company and Armenian merchants that reads “whenever forty or more of the Armenian nation shall become inhabitants in any of the garrisons, cities or towns belonging to the Company in the East Indies, the said Armenians shall not only have and enjoy the free use and exercise of their religion, but there shall also be allotted to them a parcel of ground to erect a church thereon…”
It was the second exodus, however, that is the most poignant. As it was in the wake of the 1915 East Anatolia Armenian genocide of more than a million people by Turkish forces. In fact, Basil even speaks of “hundreds of children of uprooted families…found shelter and a roof and received sufficient education…” at the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in Kolkata, that is to this day very much functional and a source of pride for the city’s small Armenian diaspora.
Sentinels of Solemnity
Back at the church at Armanitola, Hafiz, the old watchman who had let me in earlier tells me the story of the last Armenian in Bangladesh. All this in broken English bolstered by his wild gesticulating, of course! Apparently, up until 2014 Mikel Housep Martirossian the Dhaka-born son of an Armenian jute trader was not just the caretaker of the Armenian Church but also its sole congregant who would say his daily prayers sitting quietly in the first pew. After a stroke five years ago, he moved to Canada at the behest of his children who live there and was never heard of again.
But there is some hope for the Church, I am told. The Armenian Embassy in Dhaka that looks after its upkeep has hinted at the possibility of getting down a new warden for the church from Armenia. Till then, it’s up to Hafiz to keep the fires burning. Quite literally, as he lights the altar candles daily at 7pm.
As I leave the church gates, I make sure to squeeze a small tip into Hafiz’s wrinkled palm. And yes, it was one of those same 100 Taka notes that started it all!
(This article first appeared in the 22nd February 2020 issue of the Mint Lounge newspaper, India on page 17 https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/the-stars-of-dhaka-s-armanitola-11582468772877.html)
By Raul Dias
I’m pretty sure that I must have made quite a spectacle of myself that sweltering summer afternoon in Dhaka, waving a soiled 100 Taka note in front of scores of bewildered noses walking past me. Even my pithy attempt at mouthing a few Bengali words, seemed to fall on deaf ears. But finally—after almost giving up any remaining hope—my phone’s wavering GPS decided to kick into action. And thus, I found myself standing in front of a structure I had been staring at every time I coughed up a 100 Taka note over my previous two days in Bangladesh.
To put it all into context, I had made the trek down the dusty alleyways of Old Dhaka with the sole aim of visiting the rather unusual Tara Masjid. For the iconic and ironically named “Star Mosque” finds a place of glory for itself on the ‘tails’ side of a 100 Taka bank note. All this thanks to its four domes that are decorated in the rare Chini Tikri (Chinese art) porcelain tile mosaic work in star motifs.
But little did I know then that that wonderful thing called serendipity had something entirely different planned out for me…
The Other Armani!
Unbeknownst to me, I had meandered my way into Old Dhaka’s Armenian quarter. Called Armanitola, the small neighbourhood on the shores of the turgid Buriganga river was once the nerve center of Armenian life in East Bengal. For this was where jute and leather traders from the South Caucasian country in Eurasia decided to set up both shop and home.
And just a mere 300 meters south of Tara Masjid, is what is believed to be the ‘Ground Zero’ of this unique quarter. Simply called the Armenian Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Holy Resurrection was built in 1781 by the traders on a plot of land that they had earlier used as a cemetery.
This edifice, with its hexagonal, crucifix-topped steeple and generous narthex reminded me not just of St. Peter’s Armenian Apostolic Church in my home city of Mumbai, but also of the similarly-structured Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth in nearby Kolkata. But besides Mumbai, Kolkata and other places in West Bengal like Saidabad, even a few other Indian cities like Chennai once had a thriving Armenian population and grand churches to cater to the growing congregation that had been settling in India since the 16th century.
Blast from the past
It is weeks after I return from Bangladesh, as I leaf through a copy of the Anne Basil authored Armenian Settlements in India at Mumbai’s Asiatic Library, do I realise that there was not one, but two separate waves of an Armenian exodus to India (which Bangladesh was a part of then). The first of which was in 1645 with the aforementioned merchants arriving in Bengal, purely for trading purposes. Interestingly, the book even references an agreement of 1688 between the English East India Company and Armenian merchants that reads “whenever forty or more of the Armenian nation shall become inhabitants in any of the garrisons, cities or towns belonging to the Company in the East Indies, the said Armenians shall not only have and enjoy the free use and exercise of their religion, but there shall also be allotted to them a parcel of ground to erect a church thereon…”
It was the second exodus, however, that is the most poignant. As it was in the wake of the 1915 East Anatolia Armenian genocide of more than a million people by Turkish forces. In fact, Basil even speaks of “hundreds of children of uprooted families…found shelter and a roof and received sufficient education…” at the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in Kolkata, that is to this day very much functional and a source of pride for the city’s small Armenian diaspora.
Sentinels of Solemnity
Back at the church at Armanitola, Hafiz, the old watchman who had let me in earlier tells me the story of the last Armenian in Bangladesh. All this in broken English bolstered by his wild gesticulating, of course! Apparently, up until 2014 Mikel Housep Martirossian the Dhaka-born son of an Armenian jute trader was not just the caretaker of the Armenian Church but also its sole congregant who would say his daily prayers sitting quietly in the first pew. After a stroke five years ago, he moved to Canada at the behest of his children who live there and was never heard of again.
But there is some hope for the Church, I am told. The Armenian Embassy in Dhaka that looks after its upkeep has hinted at the possibility of getting down a new warden for the church from Armenia. Till then, it’s up to Hafiz to keep the fires burning. Quite literally, as he lights the altar candles daily at 7pm.
As I leave the church gates, I make sure to squeeze a small tip into Hafiz’s wrinkled palm. And yes, it was one of those same 100 Taka notes that started it all!
(This article first appeared in the 22nd February 2020 issue of the Mint Lounge newspaper, India on page 17 https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/the-stars-of-dhaka-s-armanitola-11582468772877.html)
Saturday, December 7, 2019
The cycle of art!
As one of the most iconic socio-cultural symbols of Dhaka, cycle rickshaw art—revelling in all its kitschy, hand-painted glory—is clinging on to dear life with all its might in today’s changing Bangladesh.
By Raul Dias
As a young boy growing up in a tiny village close to the city of Sylhet in eastern Bangladesh, Bulbul hated his name so much, that he soon started to refer to himself simply as “BB” once he hit puberty. Named after one of South Asia’s favourite singing birds of the passerine family that are closely related to nightingales, Bulbul says he was teased mercilessly by his posse of pals for possessing what is generally considered a feminine name.
Today, the 54-year-old’s name is his number one USP. And he proudly brandishes it—not just in sparkly silver Roman letters, but also pictorially in the form of a flock of neon green painted bulbuls—on the back side of his cycle rickshaw. All this, as he negotiates his way down Dhaka’s traffic-infested roads every day, ferrying locals and travellers like me to and fro.
Art Attack
I’m in Dhaka on a short, three-day post-Kolkata-work-trip holiday to visit friends, where a few minutes earlier I had chanced upon Bulbul at a busy intersection in the northern Dhaka neighbourhood of Gulshan. Despite my non-existent Bengali language skills, the broken English speaking Bulbul is more than happy to introduce me to his colourful world of cycle rickshaw art as we ride downtown towards Old Dhaka.
With over a million such three-wheeled pedicabs plying the streets all over Bangladesh, the country is often referred to as the ‘cycle rickshaw capital of the word’. Interestingly, more than half of these million cycle rickshaws can be found in its capital Dhaka alone. And each one of them, like Bulbul’s ‘kitschy aviary’, is dressed up to the nines with their flexible, accordion-like hoods festooned with buntings, tinsel strips bedecking handlebars and passenger backrests covered in vinyl panels decorated with intricate appliqué work.
But the one place that such artistry is on full is at the backside of the rickshaws’ chassis on the 2X4 feet metallic rectangles sitting below the hood. Here is where you will see everything from gaudy coloured depictions of flora—particularly that of Bangladesh’s national flower the shapla (water lily)—to hand-painted 2D portraits of rosy-cheeked local film stars.
I spot other specimens decorated with paintings of rural scenery and even edifices like the Louis Kahn-designed national parliament house called Jatiya Sangsad Bhabhan and the Tara Mosjid. The latter being a star-spangled mosque housed in the ‘Armanitola’ Armenian quarter of old Dhaka that incidentally also finds its likeness printed on one side of a 10-Taka bank note.
Root Level
I soon find myself standing in front of a dilapidated storefront in Old Dhaka where the mood inside is nothing short of frantic. Insisting that I see how the rickshaw art takes shape, Bulbul has brought me to perhaps the only street in the world that’s dedicated to this craft. Bangsal Street aka. Rickshaw Street is where one can find around a dozen or so workshops that specialise in everything from painting and decorating to upholstering cycle rickshaws.
Breathing in air thick with strong odours of paint, vinyl and adhesive, all intermingling with each other, I step into Mesbahuddin Hafiz’s shop where I can see finishing touches being applied to a cycle rickshaw that I’m told is to be signed off in the next hour or so. The sexagenarian Hafiz tells me that the shop was started by his late father in the mid-1950s when the whole cycle rickshaw art scene started to take form.
“Though my father, who was one of the pioneers of this artform, started off painting more simplistic scenes like sunsets and beaches, it was only a decade later that his work started to take on a more political tone,” says Hafiz, obviously referring to Bangladesh’s struggle for independence from Pakistan in the early 70s. This was a time when more propogandist motifs depicting scenes of uprising and civil unrest started to creep into cycle rickshaw art, thus making it a great socio-political reflator of the zeitgeist.
Problems and Solutions
But sadly, these days it’s no less of a struggle for independence and livelihood for artisans such as Hafiz. Facing stiff competition from cheaper and faster to produce digital art and screen printing, work for him has almost dried up he tells me. “Twenty years ago, I used to work on at least five to six rickshaws a month. Whereas today, I’m lucky if I even get a single rickshaw,” laments Hafiz, who also puts the blame for his and his fellow artisans’ workload decline on something lethal to his trade. In a bid to help decongest the streets of Dhaka, the local government authorities have stopped issuing new rickshaw permits, which obviously means almost no new rickshaws to paint.
But all hope may not be lost, after all. Recognizing this imminent death of an art form and taking some proactive steps to prevent it is a local Dhaka startup called Biskut Factory. Helmed by Bangladeshi artist Biskut Abir, this art firm seeks to promote and sell rickshaw art by having it painted on everything from apparel and accessories to household items like kettles and mugs to even bringing it into the mainstream via platforms like the popular, annual Dhaka Art Summit.
All this, showing people like Bulbul and Hafiz that there may very well be some hope for them at the end of their rather psychedelic rickshaw art rainbow!
Travel log
Getting There
There are several daily direct flights linking Dhaka with New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. To travel within Dhaka, one can either hop into a taxi, auto rickshaw (locally called “baby taxi”), cycle rickshaw or public bus, though the last two options are only for the adventurous lot. While Indian citizens do need to have a Bangladeshi visa in advance before travel, the tourist visa is easily available at the Bangladeshi Embassy in New Delhi and is issued free of charge.
Stay
Dhaka offers an excellent choice of accommodation options that will suit most budgets. Located in the heart of downtown Dhaka, the luxurious InterContinental Dhaka (Rs 11,053 for two with breakfast, ihg.com) is one such option as is the well-priced, three-star Asia Hotel (Rs 4,177 for two with breakfast, asiahotel.com.bd), which can be found next to the Ramna Park and the historic Curzon Hall.
Tip
* One of the best ways to truly immerse oneself into the ethos of Dhaka is to cruise down the city’s main, arterial Buriganga River in a small wooden boat, often captained by singing boatmen! These boats known as koshas can be hired for as little as 150 Taka (Rs 127) per hour off the many piers next to the chaotic Sadarghat Boat Terminal in South Dhaka.
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 7th December 2019 issue of The Hindu Business Line newspaper's BLink section on page 19 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/disappearing-hand-painted-cycle-rickshaw-art-from-dhakas-bylanes/article30164711.ece)
By Raul Dias
As a young boy growing up in a tiny village close to the city of Sylhet in eastern Bangladesh, Bulbul hated his name so much, that he soon started to refer to himself simply as “BB” once he hit puberty. Named after one of South Asia’s favourite singing birds of the passerine family that are closely related to nightingales, Bulbul says he was teased mercilessly by his posse of pals for possessing what is generally considered a feminine name.
Today, the 54-year-old’s name is his number one USP. And he proudly brandishes it—not just in sparkly silver Roman letters, but also pictorially in the form of a flock of neon green painted bulbuls—on the back side of his cycle rickshaw. All this, as he negotiates his way down Dhaka’s traffic-infested roads every day, ferrying locals and travellers like me to and fro.
Art Attack
I’m in Dhaka on a short, three-day post-Kolkata-work-trip holiday to visit friends, where a few minutes earlier I had chanced upon Bulbul at a busy intersection in the northern Dhaka neighbourhood of Gulshan. Despite my non-existent Bengali language skills, the broken English speaking Bulbul is more than happy to introduce me to his colourful world of cycle rickshaw art as we ride downtown towards Old Dhaka.
With over a million such three-wheeled pedicabs plying the streets all over Bangladesh, the country is often referred to as the ‘cycle rickshaw capital of the word’. Interestingly, more than half of these million cycle rickshaws can be found in its capital Dhaka alone. And each one of them, like Bulbul’s ‘kitschy aviary’, is dressed up to the nines with their flexible, accordion-like hoods festooned with buntings, tinsel strips bedecking handlebars and passenger backrests covered in vinyl panels decorated with intricate appliqué work.
But the one place that such artistry is on full is at the backside of the rickshaws’ chassis on the 2X4 feet metallic rectangles sitting below the hood. Here is where you will see everything from gaudy coloured depictions of flora—particularly that of Bangladesh’s national flower the shapla (water lily)—to hand-painted 2D portraits of rosy-cheeked local film stars.
I spot other specimens decorated with paintings of rural scenery and even edifices like the Louis Kahn-designed national parliament house called Jatiya Sangsad Bhabhan and the Tara Mosjid. The latter being a star-spangled mosque housed in the ‘Armanitola’ Armenian quarter of old Dhaka that incidentally also finds its likeness printed on one side of a 10-Taka bank note.
Root Level
I soon find myself standing in front of a dilapidated storefront in Old Dhaka where the mood inside is nothing short of frantic. Insisting that I see how the rickshaw art takes shape, Bulbul has brought me to perhaps the only street in the world that’s dedicated to this craft. Bangsal Street aka. Rickshaw Street is where one can find around a dozen or so workshops that specialise in everything from painting and decorating to upholstering cycle rickshaws.
Breathing in air thick with strong odours of paint, vinyl and adhesive, all intermingling with each other, I step into Mesbahuddin Hafiz’s shop where I can see finishing touches being applied to a cycle rickshaw that I’m told is to be signed off in the next hour or so. The sexagenarian Hafiz tells me that the shop was started by his late father in the mid-1950s when the whole cycle rickshaw art scene started to take form.
“Though my father, who was one of the pioneers of this artform, started off painting more simplistic scenes like sunsets and beaches, it was only a decade later that his work started to take on a more political tone,” says Hafiz, obviously referring to Bangladesh’s struggle for independence from Pakistan in the early 70s. This was a time when more propogandist motifs depicting scenes of uprising and civil unrest started to creep into cycle rickshaw art, thus making it a great socio-political reflator of the zeitgeist.
Problems and Solutions
But sadly, these days it’s no less of a struggle for independence and livelihood for artisans such as Hafiz. Facing stiff competition from cheaper and faster to produce digital art and screen printing, work for him has almost dried up he tells me. “Twenty years ago, I used to work on at least five to six rickshaws a month. Whereas today, I’m lucky if I even get a single rickshaw,” laments Hafiz, who also puts the blame for his and his fellow artisans’ workload decline on something lethal to his trade. In a bid to help decongest the streets of Dhaka, the local government authorities have stopped issuing new rickshaw permits, which obviously means almost no new rickshaws to paint.
But all hope may not be lost, after all. Recognizing this imminent death of an art form and taking some proactive steps to prevent it is a local Dhaka startup called Biskut Factory. Helmed by Bangladeshi artist Biskut Abir, this art firm seeks to promote and sell rickshaw art by having it painted on everything from apparel and accessories to household items like kettles and mugs to even bringing it into the mainstream via platforms like the popular, annual Dhaka Art Summit.
All this, showing people like Bulbul and Hafiz that there may very well be some hope for them at the end of their rather psychedelic rickshaw art rainbow!
Travel log
Getting There
There are several daily direct flights linking Dhaka with New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. To travel within Dhaka, one can either hop into a taxi, auto rickshaw (locally called “baby taxi”), cycle rickshaw or public bus, though the last two options are only for the adventurous lot. While Indian citizens do need to have a Bangladeshi visa in advance before travel, the tourist visa is easily available at the Bangladeshi Embassy in New Delhi and is issued free of charge.
Stay
Dhaka offers an excellent choice of accommodation options that will suit most budgets. Located in the heart of downtown Dhaka, the luxurious InterContinental Dhaka (Rs 11,053 for two with breakfast, ihg.com) is one such option as is the well-priced, three-star Asia Hotel (Rs 4,177 for two with breakfast, asiahotel.com.bd), which can be found next to the Ramna Park and the historic Curzon Hall.
Tip
* One of the best ways to truly immerse oneself into the ethos of Dhaka is to cruise down the city’s main, arterial Buriganga River in a small wooden boat, often captained by singing boatmen! These boats known as koshas can be hired for as little as 150 Taka (Rs 127) per hour off the many piers next to the chaotic Sadarghat Boat Terminal in South Dhaka.
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 7th December 2019 issue of The Hindu Business Line newspaper's BLink section on page 19 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/disappearing-hand-painted-cycle-rickshaw-art-from-dhakas-bylanes/article30164711.ece)
Thursday, March 1, 2018
A Dhaka Day!
All it takes is a day in Bangladesh’s bustling capital Dhaka to fall in love with it—never mind its gritty countenance and unbridled urban chaos. Here are five ways to discover the charms of this city by the Buriganga River
1. For Old Times’ Sake
I’d really suggest starting your day in the city by taking in the faded—if not lost—splendour of Old Dhaka on foot. This, I learned was the best way to explore this compact precinct of the city. A visit to the pink-hued Ahsan Manzil housed at the top end of a busy alley, is an ideal way to begin. As the former official residential palace and seat of the Dhaka Nawab Family, this 144-year-old edifice is today converted into a museum with all the regalia on full display.
Dodge your way through Dhaka’s insane traffic and pay obeisance at the serene Armenian Church in the Armanitola area. Here, you can still see old gravestones inscribed in the traditional Armenian script. Just a mere 300 meters north of the church, you will find the Sitara Mosque that is distinct, in that, its four domes are entirely decorated with mosaic tiled stars. So iconic is this mosque, that it even finds a place of glory for itself on the face of a Tk10 (ten Bangladeshi taka) note.
Finish off your blast from the past with yet another walk. This time, to the magnificent 17th Century Lalbagh Fort that is famous for being unfinished after it was allegedly cursed. It houses the very beautiful Tomb of Pari Bibi, the daughter of Shaista Khan that is in the middle of the complex. Flanking it on either side is the Diwani-i-Aam hammam and the Lalbagh Fort Mosque on the eastern side, making it a veritable ‘Taj Mahal of Bangladesh’.
2. Architectural Marvels
An easy mid-day, pre-lunch walk into the city’s downtown University area is sure to reward you with serendipitous findings like the red-brick Curzon Hall. Built in the colonial-meets-Saracenic style of architecture, this 110-year-old building, that was intended to serve as the Dhaka town hall, is today part the University’s school of science.
A little further down the road you will encounter the stunning ivory Supreme Court building and its well-manicured lawns. Next, take a detour to Central Dhaka to get a glimpse of the city’s true piece de resistance—the startlingly modern and abstract looking National Assembly Building or Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. A true architectural marvel, built from 1961 to 1982, the building is based on the designs of American Modernist architect Louis Kahn. With a moat-like water body surrounding it, thus referencing the country’s ‘water world’ moniker, the main building is made up of huge walls deeply recessed by porticoes and large openings of regular geometric shapes that let the light stream in.
4. Have an ‘Art Attack’
If the super-popular, annual Dhaka Art Summit is any indication of this city’s prowess as a repository of art, then you better believe that the art scene here is not just alive, but thriving, even! Pay a visit to the city’s various art galleries like the eclectic Dhaka Art Centre in Dhanmondi that houses pieces by both local artists like Mishuk Munier and Ruhul Karim Rumee as well as international ones.
But if kitsch art is more your scene, then take a colourful cycle rickshaw ride to the famous Bicycle Street also called Bangsal Road. This luridly decorated part of the city, along with the adjoining Kazi Alauddin Road, is lined with shops selling bicycles of all kind, as well as with stalls that do the special pop rickshaw art that you will encounter in all its gaudy glory adorning the millions of cycle rickshaws plying all over Dhaka.
In the same area, a few yards away, at the 300-year-old Hindu Street called Shankharia Bazaar tune into the sounds of workmen fashioning intricate pieces of jewellery from gold and other precious metals. Interestingly, this area is also regarded as the ‘Ground Zero’ of Dhaka’s Hindu community and come Durga Puja season, it is transformed into an open-air arts museum where pandals are set up with idols and other assorted religious iconography for you to get your fill of.
5. A Sunset Cruise Along the Buriganga River
Finish off your Dhaka day of discovery with a languid cruise down the Buriganga River sailing on a tiny wooden boat. A grey, marshy, unappealing eyesore by day, this waterbody undergoes a remarkable metamorphosis come evening as the pink rays of the evening sun slowly light it up. You can hire a wooden boat for around TK150 (Rs 116 approx.) per hour at the chaotic Sadarghat Boat Terminal in South Dhaka and ride the placid waters of this river that gets its name from the Bangla word for old lady—bhuri.
Don’t forget to take in the spectacular sight of the large, rusty multi-storied steamer ships with funny names like ‘NASA’ and ‘Hydro King’ that take passengers on journeys to other places in in the country like Chittagong and Sundarbans. Trust me, there simply couldn’t be a more perfect way to end your tryst with Dhaka—a city that will hold you in her vice-like grip, only to release you when you give in to her unconventional charms!
What to Buy and Where?
* Colourful art work paying homage to Dhaka’s famous cycle rickshaws. Try Jatra at Kemal Ataturk Avenue for all things art and kitsch.
* Superb indigenously produced fabrics like Dhakai (jamdani) muslin and tangail that take the form of sarees, curtain material etc at the Wholesale Cloth Market at Islampur.
* Readymade apparel—as Dhaka is the center of garment production for some of the world’s top high street brands. As the12th largest mall in the world, Bashundhara City in Bashundhara is your place.
* All things jute like jute bags, shoes, slippers and home décor objects. Kumudini Handicrafts in the posh Gulshan neighbourhood of the city is a great store we’d recommend.
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the March 2018 issue of Jetwings Domestic in-flight magazine of Jet Airwayshttp://www.jetairways.com/EN/IN/jetexperience/magazines.aspx)
1. For Old Times’ Sake
I’d really suggest starting your day in the city by taking in the faded—if not lost—splendour of Old Dhaka on foot. This, I learned was the best way to explore this compact precinct of the city. A visit to the pink-hued Ahsan Manzil housed at the top end of a busy alley, is an ideal way to begin. As the former official residential palace and seat of the Dhaka Nawab Family, this 144-year-old edifice is today converted into a museum with all the regalia on full display.
Dodge your way through Dhaka’s insane traffic and pay obeisance at the serene Armenian Church in the Armanitola area. Here, you can still see old gravestones inscribed in the traditional Armenian script. Just a mere 300 meters north of the church, you will find the Sitara Mosque that is distinct, in that, its four domes are entirely decorated with mosaic tiled stars. So iconic is this mosque, that it even finds a place of glory for itself on the face of a Tk10 (ten Bangladeshi taka) note.
Finish off your blast from the past with yet another walk. This time, to the magnificent 17th Century Lalbagh Fort that is famous for being unfinished after it was allegedly cursed. It houses the very beautiful Tomb of Pari Bibi, the daughter of Shaista Khan that is in the middle of the complex. Flanking it on either side is the Diwani-i-Aam hammam and the Lalbagh Fort Mosque on the eastern side, making it a veritable ‘Taj Mahal of Bangladesh’.
2. Architectural Marvels
An easy mid-day, pre-lunch walk into the city’s downtown University area is sure to reward you with serendipitous findings like the red-brick Curzon Hall. Built in the colonial-meets-Saracenic style of architecture, this 110-year-old building, that was intended to serve as the Dhaka town hall, is today part the University’s school of science.
A little further down the road you will encounter the stunning ivory Supreme Court building and its well-manicured lawns. Next, take a detour to Central Dhaka to get a glimpse of the city’s true piece de resistance—the startlingly modern and abstract looking National Assembly Building or Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. A true architectural marvel, built from 1961 to 1982, the building is based on the designs of American Modernist architect Louis Kahn. With a moat-like water body surrounding it, thus referencing the country’s ‘water world’ moniker, the main building is made up of huge walls deeply recessed by porticoes and large openings of regular geometric shapes that let the light stream in.
4. Have an ‘Art Attack’
If the super-popular, annual Dhaka Art Summit is any indication of this city’s prowess as a repository of art, then you better believe that the art scene here is not just alive, but thriving, even! Pay a visit to the city’s various art galleries like the eclectic Dhaka Art Centre in Dhanmondi that houses pieces by both local artists like Mishuk Munier and Ruhul Karim Rumee as well as international ones.
But if kitsch art is more your scene, then take a colourful cycle rickshaw ride to the famous Bicycle Street also called Bangsal Road. This luridly decorated part of the city, along with the adjoining Kazi Alauddin Road, is lined with shops selling bicycles of all kind, as well as with stalls that do the special pop rickshaw art that you will encounter in all its gaudy glory adorning the millions of cycle rickshaws plying all over Dhaka.
In the same area, a few yards away, at the 300-year-old Hindu Street called Shankharia Bazaar tune into the sounds of workmen fashioning intricate pieces of jewellery from gold and other precious metals. Interestingly, this area is also regarded as the ‘Ground Zero’ of Dhaka’s Hindu community and come Durga Puja season, it is transformed into an open-air arts museum where pandals are set up with idols and other assorted religious iconography for you to get your fill of.
5. A Sunset Cruise Along the Buriganga River
Finish off your Dhaka day of discovery with a languid cruise down the Buriganga River sailing on a tiny wooden boat. A grey, marshy, unappealing eyesore by day, this waterbody undergoes a remarkable metamorphosis come evening as the pink rays of the evening sun slowly light it up. You can hire a wooden boat for around TK150 (Rs 116 approx.) per hour at the chaotic Sadarghat Boat Terminal in South Dhaka and ride the placid waters of this river that gets its name from the Bangla word for old lady—bhuri.
Don’t forget to take in the spectacular sight of the large, rusty multi-storied steamer ships with funny names like ‘NASA’ and ‘Hydro King’ that take passengers on journeys to other places in in the country like Chittagong and Sundarbans. Trust me, there simply couldn’t be a more perfect way to end your tryst with Dhaka—a city that will hold you in her vice-like grip, only to release you when you give in to her unconventional charms!
What to Buy and Where?
* Colourful art work paying homage to Dhaka’s famous cycle rickshaws. Try Jatra at Kemal Ataturk Avenue for all things art and kitsch.
* Superb indigenously produced fabrics like Dhakai (jamdani) muslin and tangail that take the form of sarees, curtain material etc at the Wholesale Cloth Market at Islampur.
* Readymade apparel—as Dhaka is the center of garment production for some of the world’s top high street brands. As the12th largest mall in the world, Bashundhara City in Bashundhara is your place.
* All things jute like jute bags, shoes, slippers and home décor objects. Kumudini Handicrafts in the posh Gulshan neighbourhood of the city is a great store we’d recommend.
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the March 2018 issue of Jetwings Domestic in-flight magazine of Jet Airwayshttp://www.jetairways.com/EN/IN/jetexperience/magazines.aspx)
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