August 31, 2009

Old Dhaka - A Thing Of the Past?

By Waziuddin Chowdhury:
It has been thirty years since I left this town- now a Mega-City of over 14 million people- many of whom are squatters living in slums. While there are indeed modern edifices in the newer parts of the City that boasts modern buildings and high-rises that rival many in the affluent developed world, this album and a few others to follow concentrates on the buildings of the past. As an Architect, I regret that the Bangladeshis are jettisoning everything of the past in a race to modernize.
Tara Masjid (mosque) was originally built in the late eighteenth century and referred to as Mirza Shaheb Mosque. In 1926- a businessman named Ali Jaan Bepari took it upon himself to completely clad the old mosque with ceramic tiles with star as its motif- and hence the name Tara Masjid.

(Image courtesy Waziuddin Chowdhury)

Via Ihtisham Kabir

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