Plan A Trip And Explore The Beautiful City – Dhaka!

The cultural life of Dhaka is vibrant as it is densely populated. Victory Day, Independence Day, and Language Martyr’s Day are celebrated prominently all over the city on 16th December, 26th March, and 21st February respectively. The people of Dhaka Accumulate at the Jatiyo Smriti Soudho and the Shaheed Minar for remembering the National heroes who fought bravely during the liberation war. These celebrations are observed with rallies and public ceremonies in public grounds. Several concerts, festivals, and fairs are organized where people participate. The Bengali new year is celebrated all across the city on 14th April. A lot of people gather at the Dhaka university campus, Ramna park, and on the streets of Shahbag for the celebrations. The city also celebrates the first day of spring in a festive manner. On this day, women wear traditional yellow sarees. This festival is known as “Basanta Utsav”. The harvest festival, popularly known as “Nabanna” is celebrated with music, dance, and food on the 1st day of the Agrahayan month of the Bengali year. Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore’s birthdays are celebrated as Nazrul Jayanti and Rabindra Jayanti respectively. The Bangla Academy organizes the Ekushey Book Fair every year which last for the whole month of February. This event is organized in the memory of all the martyrs who died on 21st February, 1952. Another festival known as the Shakrain festival is celebrated by flying kites. Islamic festivals like, – Muharram, Eid-E-Miladunnabi, Eid-Ul-Adha, and Eid-Ul-FItr; Hindu festivals like Durga puja, etc.; Christian festival like Christmas; and Buddhist festival of Buddha Purnima are celebrated all across the city. The traditional folk music of Dhaka is very popular till date, irrespective of the growing popularity of rock bands and music groups.

Dhaka is filled with small shops and roadside markets that sell a wide variety of items. Recently Dhaka is booming with shopping malls. Two of the largest shopping malls are Bashundhara city shopping mall and Jamuna Future Park.

Old Dhaka has its unique food tradition that is known as “Dhakaite food”. Old Dhaka is mainly famous for “Morog Pulao”. It is very different from the traditional “Biriyani” because of the use of milk cream and turmeric. The traditional snack or food of the people of Old Dhaka is called “Dhakai Bakarkhani”. This food is famous for its taste and quality. Numerous restaurants in Dhaka serve Chinese and Western cuisine along with the South Asian variants and the Bangladeshi cuisine.

More than 2000 buildings were built in Dhaka in between the 16th century and the 19th century. This constitutes an integral part of the cultural heritage of Dhaka. Some of the examples are – Pogose School, Holy Rosary Church, Dharmarajika Buddhist Monastery, Ramna Kali Mandir, Swami Bagh Temple, Dhakeswari Temple, Bara Katra, Choto Katra, Rose Garden Palace, Dhanmondi Shahi Eidgah, Dhaka Gate, Armenian Church, Hussaini Dalan, Chawk Mosque, Tara Mosque, Ahsan Manzil, Lalbagh Fort, etc. There are several colonial buildings in the Farashganj, Armanitola, and Dhaka Sadarghat areas of Old Dhaka. In 1454, Binat Bibi Mosque was built in Dhaka’s Narinda area. It is the oldest existing brick structure of Dhaka. Mitford Hospital, Curzon Hall, Bangabhaban, and Old High Court Building are some of the important landmark buildings that were constructed during the British rule. National Capital Complex was inaugurated in 1982 in Dhaka. It was established as one of the world’s largest legislative complexes comprising 200 acres. Kamalpur railway station, designed by the American architect Robert Boughey is another magnificent architecture of Dhaka. The “SWadhinata Stambha” or the Independence monument was built in the memory of the historical events that took place during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in the Suhrawardy Udyan.