DhAkA

eventually, we reached DhAkA around 9pm. we checked into the Al-Faruq hotel in the kamlapur area, near the main station.

the next morning we went to the station, where the station manager was kind enough to book us four tickets (an entire coupe) on the famed chittagong mail for tomorrow. during the protracted procedure (everything is manual, based on a single register), we became friends with mr. bahar, who runs a business out of chittagong, and invited us to his home there. this was the first of many invitations we were to receive from the people in bangladesh, whom we found extremely friendly.

though some of us were keen on taking a car and going around the "sights" of Dhaka, we started by walking to motijheel, which turned out to be a great decision.

while asking for directions, we met shah alam. a tailor by profession, he was going to an all-day "bijoy mAs" concert at the ramna park on this holiday (friday). bijoy mAs is a is a month-long celebration of the liberation of bangladesh on december 16, 1971.

shah alam was kind enough to take some photos of us by the balakA statue at the bangladesh bimAn offices. he then suggested we visit the nearby baitul mukarram mosque. in the end, he spent the entire day with us, escorting us to sadarghAT in old DhAkA staying with us till late at night.

shah alam took us to the stadium and then to the gleaming baitul mukarram mosque next door. this is the national mosque of bangladesh, and the next day there was an opposition procession from its gates.

from here we went by a short bus ride to bAnglAbAzAr in the heart of old DhAka. this is the book publishing heart of bangladesh, but unfortunately all the stores were closed since it was friday. we then went to the sadarghAT, the main boat terminus in DhAkA.

we explored the m.v. farhan-1, which would be leaving at evening to sail overnight to daulat khan near barisal. the crew were happy to show us the cabins above and the dank engine room below. the possibility of the journey, through the lush green rivers and beels, seemed promising for a future trip.

at shah alam's suggestion, we then visited the ahsan manzil, the residence of the nawab's of DhAkA, who were instrumental in forming the indian muslim league in 1903. the crumbling riverfront building was to be auctioned in the early 1970s when mujib intervened and bought it for the state, and it was converted into a museum. since it was friday, it was quite crowded and lots of people were picnicking on the lawns.

here we met sariful islam, a civil engineer who works in the booming construction industry in DhAkA. he had come for an outing with his wife and daughter. they too invited us and traded contacts.

we then took two rickshaws to DhAkeshwari temple near the lAlbAgh fort (alas, we had to skip the fort itself).

this temple is now recognized as the national temple of bAnlgAdesh. in the recent past however, the temple has been completely destroyed and most of its extensive lands have been taken away. today the temple has been completely rebuilt. it is one of the oldest temples in eastern india; it is said to have been established by ballal sen (12th c.); possibly the town of DhAkA derived its name from the temple. it is certainly a key center for the spread of durga worship in bengal. today, the durga puja in the naTmandir here is distinguished by the fact that devi stays here through the year; she is consigned to visarjan only the following mahAShaShTi, when a new idol is enshrined.

we also visited the ramna kAlibARi, operating out of a makeshift temple. at in march 1971, this was the site of a gruesome killing by the pakistan army. about a hundred people including the head priest were bayoneted and machine-gunned. a dozen women were taken away by the pakistani troops and never seen again. the 500-year old temple was razed with bulldozers (see this JAtiya gaNatadanta commission report from Sept 2000). the gate seen in the image above was a pandal style structure, and the simple temple inside a meager construction compared to the original structure with a tall spire which could be seen from miles around. there was no sign of the AnandamayI Ashram.

day 3: DhAkA

after breakfast at birati restaurant in the station complex, i managed to get my internet connections figured out at the grameenphone store in the station. we then went to explore mirpur, one of the sari production areas of DhAkA. here we saw the tnAtis making their saris and also visited a few sari shops, looking for the legendary DhAkAi jAmdAni - in the end though, we didnt buy any ...

we also enjoyed some fine mishTi doi from baguRa... then we went to the bAridhAra area and then to banAnI. our train was at 11pm so we got back to the hotel by 8 pm. here we had some difficulties with the staff, who were extremely discourteous. in the end some elderly banglAdeshis helped sort things out. we would strongly discourage others from going to this hotel.

we had dinner at the station restaurant (called birati) and boarded the chittaggong mail (2 down). the station was very clean by indian standards, but the train left more than an hour late owing to late arrival of the engine, which was possibly of british vintage diesel on meter gauge).

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* day 1: getting to bangladesh
* day 4-5: chittagong / cox's bazar
* day 6: faridpur / bhATdi

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