Dhaka Bangladesh Points Of Interest

                                           Lalbagh Fort 

Tomb of Pari Bibi at Lalbagh Fort in Old Dhaka.

 Mughal prince Muhammad Azam, third son of Aurangzeb started the work of the fort in 1678 during his vice-royalty in Bengal. He stayed in Bengal for 15 months. The fort remained incomplete when he was called away by his father Aurangzeb.

Shaista Khan was the new subahdar of Dhaka in that time, and he did not complete the fort. In 1684, the daughter of Shaista Khan named Iran Dukht Pari Bibi died there. After her death, he started to think the fort as unlucky, and left the structure incomplete. Among the three major parts of Lalbagh Fort, one is the tomb of Pari Bibi.
After Shaista Khan left Dhaka, it lost its popularity. The main cause was that the capital was moved from Dhaka to Murshidabad. After the end of the royal Mughal period, the fort became abandoned. In 1844, the area acquired its name as Lalbagh replacing Aurangabad, and the fort became Lalbagh Fort.

                                                

                             National Parliament House    

 

Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban or National Parliament House is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh designed

Before its completion, the first and second Parliaments used the Old Sangsad Bhaban, which currently serves as the Prime Minister's Office.

Construction was started in 1961 when Bangladesh was East Pakistan, led by Ayub Khan from the West Pakistan capital of Islamabad. As part of his efforts to decrease the disparity and secessionist tendencies of East Pakistan, Khan aimed to make Dhaka a second capital, with appropriate facilities for an assembly.
Jatiya Sangsad was designed by Louis Kahn. The government sought assistance from South Asian activist and architect Muzharul Islam who recommended bringing in the world's top architects for the project. He initially attempted to bring Alvar Aalto and Le Corbusier, who were both were unavailable at the time. Islam then enlisted his former teacher at Yale, Louis Kahn.
Construction was halted during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and was completed on 28 January 1982. Kahn died when the project was approximately three-quarters completed and it continued under David Wisdom, who worked for Kahn.

                                        Ahsan Manzil 

Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka, Bangladesh

In Mughal era, there was a garden house of Sheikh Enayet Ullah, the landlord of Jamalpur Porgona (district), in this place. Sheikh Enayet Ullah was a very charming person.  He acquired a very big area in Kumortuli (Kumartuli) and included it in his garden house. Here he built a beautiful palace and named it "Rongmohol" (Rangmahal). He used to enjoy here keeping beautiful girls collected from the country and abroad, dressing them with gorgeous dresses and expensive ornaments. There is a saying that, the foujdar of Dhaka (representative of mughal emperor) in that time was attracted to one of the beautiful girls among them. He invited Sheikh Enayet Ullah in a party one night and killed him in a conspiracy when he was returning home. That girl also committed suicide in anger and sorrow. There was a grave of Sheikh Enayet Ullah in the north-east corner of the palace yard which was ruined in the beginning of the 20th century.Probably in the period of Nawab Alibardi Khan around 1740 century, Sheikh Moti Ullah, the son of Sheikh Enayet Ullah, sold the property to the French traders. There was a French trading house beside this property. The trading house became wealthier after purchasing this property. In that time, French traders could do business here without paying any taxes by a decree from the emperor Awrangajeb. In that time, the French became very wealthy by doing business here in competition with the English and other European companies. They made a big palace and dug a pond for sweet water in the newly purchased property. The pond still exists in the compound of Ahsan Manjil which was called "Les Jalla" in that time. In the English-French war, French got defeated and all their properties were captured by the English. On 22 June 1757, the French left the trading house with a fleet of 35 boats from the river station of Buriganga in front of Kumartuli. 

                                          Sonargaon 

Sonargaon

Lok Shilpa Jadughar (Folk Art and Craft Museum) of Sonargaon was established by Bangladeshi painter Joynul Abedin on 12 March 1975.The house, originally called Bara Sardar Bari, was built in 1901.

On 15 February 1984, Narayanganj subdivision was upgraded to a district by the Government of Bangladesh.Hence Sonargaon became a subdistrict of Narayanganj District of Dhaka division.
Due to the many threats to preservation (including flooding and vandalism), Sonargaon was placed in 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund.

            Martyred Intellectuals Day 

The Martyred Intellectuals Monument

 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals

The Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan began on 26 March 1971, and grew into the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, ending with the victory of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971. On 14 December, sensing imminent defeat, Pakistani forces and their local collaborators—Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams—abducted and killed front-line Bengali intellectuals and professionals in order to cripple the new nation intellectually.Renowned academics, teachers, intellectuals, doctors, engineers, journalists, and other eminent personalities were dragged out of their houses, blindfolded, and killed. Their bodies were dumped in Rayerbazar, Mirpur, and other killing grounds in Dhaka just two days ahead of the final victory of the war.

                                  Fantasy Kindom 

Fantasy Kingdom Complex

Open all year round, Water Kingdom is a water theme park where you can get wet and wild with your family and friends. Located behind Fantasy Kingdom it has thrilling waterslides for older kids, splash pools for the very young, restaurants, DJ shows, dance zones, changing areas, and everything else you may need for some splashing fun!

There are currently many bus routes available to help you reach Fantasy Kingdom. You can take the bus from different points of Dhaka namely Motijheel, Press Club, Shahbagh, Banglamotor, Farmgate, Shukrabad, Asadgate, Shyamoli, Kalyanpur, Technical or Kakrail, Maghbazar, Nabisco, Mahakhali, Kakoli, Airport, Uttara, Abdullapur etc. 

                     Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport 

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport

 

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (Bengali: হযরত শাহ্‌জালাল আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর Hôzrôt Shahjalal Antôrjatik Bimanbôndôr) (IATA: DAC, ICAO: VGHS (old: VGZR)), formerly Zia International Airport, is the largest airport in Bangladesh. Operated and maintained by the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh, it is also used by the Bangladesh Air Force as a part of BAF Bangabandhu Base. Located in Kurmitola in northern Dhaka, it started operations in 1980, taking over as the country's capital international airport from Tejgaon Airport. 

 The airport is the hub of most of the private airlines in Bangladesh, including Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Regent Airways, Novoair and US-Bangla Airlines. The airport's IATA code – "DAC" is derived from "Dacca", the previously used spelling for "Dhaka".
The airport has an area of 1,981 acres (802 ha). The airport has a capacity of handling 18.5 million passengers annually, and is predicted by the CAAB to be enough until 2026. In 2014, it handled 9.1 million passengers, and 248,000 tonnes of cargo.Average aircraft movement per day is around 190 flights.
National flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines is the ground handling provider of the airport.

                                Hatirjheel-Begunbari 

Hatirjheel-Begunbari

Hatirjheel (Bengali: হাতিরঝিল; Bengali pronunciation: [ɦat̪ir dʒʱil], English: /ˈhɑːtiːˌdʒhɪl/; also known as Hatirjheel-Begunbari) is a lakefront in Dhaka, Bangladesh that has been transformed into a transportation medium for minimizing traffic congestion.

The area was constructed under Bangladesh Army and the Special Works Organization (SWO). It is now a popular recreational spot for residents of Dhaka and is currently undergoing renovation.

                              Bangladesh National Zoo 

Bangladesh national zoo gate

Bangladesh National Zoo, is a Zoo located in the Mirpur section of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The Zoo contains many native and non-native animals and wild life, and hosts about three million visitors each year. 

On 26 December 1950, the agricultural,cooperation and aid ministry officially declared to establish a zoo in Dhaka. Hence the zoo started that time near Dhaka high court with several spotted deer, monkey and elephant. The zoo later shifted to present Eid-gah maidan with more animals.Later in 1961 a board was created to ensure proper management of the zoo. Later, after acquiring animals from internal and from foreign countries, the zoo inaugurated at its present location 23 June 1974. 

                      University of Dhaka 

 

Logo of the University of Dhaka

Before Dhaka University was established, near its grounds were the former buildings of Dhaka College. In 1873 the college was relocated to Bahadur Shah Park. Later it shifted to Curzon Hall, which would become the first institute of the university.

The establishment of the university was a compensation of the annulment of the 1905 Partition of Bengal. The partition had established East Bengal and Assam as a separate province, with Dhaka as its capital. However, the partition was abolished in 1911 due to severe opposition from Indian National Congress and Bengali Hindus.To appease the people of East Bengal, Lord Curzon declared that a university as a center of excellence would be established in Dacca. Khwaja Salimullah, the Nawab of Dhaka, also played a pioneering role in establishing a university in Dhaka.

                                   Jahangirnagar University 

 Jahangirnagar University

Jahangirnagar University was formally launched on 12 January 1970 under the Jahangirnagar Muslim University Ordinance, 1970 and this day is observed as University Day. Initially, it was named Jahangirnagar Muslim University, and the plan was to operate the university like Aligarh Muslim University. 

 But after the independence of Bangladesh, its name changed to Jahangirnagar University under the Jahangirnagar University Act' 1973^. 

                              Jamuna Future Park 

Jamuna Future Park

^{Jamuna Future Park is a shopping mall in Dhaka, and the largest shopping mall in Bangladesh with a gross leasable area of 1,614,586 square feet (150,000 m2). It was inaugurated on 6 September 2013. Construction began in 2002, by Jamuna Builders Ltd., a subsidiary of the Jamuna Group and the exterior was completed in 2008.} 

The complex is spread across 33 acres (13 ha) of land in Kuril, Baridhara, situated on the Pragati Sharani, neighboring middle and upper class residential areas of Dhaka city like Gulshan, Banani, and Bashundhara. It is relatively close to Shahjalal International Airport, offices of multinational companies, major embassies and other offices.
It can be accessed by the Kuril Flyover, which opened in August 2013, from both directions of the Airport Road.

                        Bashundhara City 

Bashundhara City

 Bashundhara City (Bengali: বসুন্ধরা সিটি) is a shopping mall in Dhaka, and the second largest shopping mall in Bangladesh. Opened to the public on 6 August 2004, the mall located in Panthapath, near Kawran Bazar. Bashundhara City is a 19 floor building complex covering an area of 191200 sqft comprising an 8 floor podium containing retail spaces, theme Park, cinemas, fitness club, swimming pool and food court with a 19 storey Corporate Office of Bashundhara Group.

The mall has space for 2,325 retail stores and cafeterias and has a large underground gymnasium, a multiplex cinema, a top-floor food court, an ice skating rink, and a theme park. The fully air-conditioned shopping mall with rooftop gardens is considered a modern symbol of the emerging city of Dhaka. Bashundhara City is one of the largest shopping malls in South Asia: up to 50,000 people visit daily.