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The Bangabhaban (Bengali:
বঙ্গভবন)(House
of Bangladesh) is the official residence of the
President of Bangladesh, the
head of state of
Bangladesh. Located in the capital
Dhaka, the
palace was originally the temporary official
residence of the
British
Viceroy of India. From
1947 to
1971, it was the residence of the
Governor of
East Pakistan.
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History
During the reign of the
sultanate of
Bengal, on the site of Bangabhaban stood the
establishment of
Hazrat Shahjalal Dakhini, a
Sufi saint of
Dhaka. The saint and his followers were killed by
the agents of the sultan and buried there. The place
soon became famous as a
mazhar (mausoleum) for the devotees of
the saint. There is a building called Manuk House within
the Bangabhaban compound. It is conjectured that it
belonged to an
Armenian
zamindar named Manuk during
British Raj. Nawab Khwaja Abdul Ghani of Dhaka
bought the place from
Manuk and built a bungalow there, which he named as
Dilkusha Garden.
With the
partition of Bengal in
1905, the government of
East Bengal and
Assam bought the real estate and constructed a
palatial house to serve as temporary residence for the
Viceroy of India and used for him until
1911. From
1911 to
1947, the palace was called the Governor House, and
served as the temporary residence of the governor of
Bengal. Following the
partition of India and the establishment of
Pakistan in
1947, the palace became the residence of the
governor of
East Pakistan. The building was severely damaged by
a storm in 1961; substantial reconstruction was
completed by
1964. Following the
Bangladesh Liberation War, the Governor House was
renamed Bangabhaban on
January 12,
1972. On that date, Justice
Abu Sayeed Chowdhury became the first constitutional
president of Bangladesh and took the palace as his
official residence. The palace has served as the
residence of constitutional presidents as well as
military rulers such as
Ziaur Rahman and
Hossain Mohammad Ershad.
Status
One of the most important symbols of Bangladesh's
government, the Bangabhaban holds a status akin to the
White House in the
United States and the
Rashtrapati Bhavan in
India. Maintained amidst extensive ceremony, the
palace is an important historical landmark and the
centre of media and tourist attraction. Special public
ceremonies are held during
Independence Day and
Victory Day. The Bangladeshi president resides and
works in the palace, and frequently holds meetings,
conferences and state dinners for Bangladeshi
politicians, intellectuals and visiting foreign heads of
state. The traditions and pomp of the palace are a
symbolic indication of the presidency's ceremonial
superiority to other public and political institutions.
Structure
The Bangabhaban is largely based on
Victorian architecture that typify many buildings of
the British-era in Dhaka. With the reconstruction
between 1961 and 1964, many elements of
Islamic architecture and Bengali styles were
incorporated. The palace has high boundary walls on all
four sides. The main building is a three-storeyed
palatial complex, around which stands extensive greenery
and tree cover. The floorspace of the ground floor is
6,700 square metres. The president's residence is on the
north-east corner, comprising two storeys of two suites
along with five well-furnished spacious bedrooms.
The president's office, the office of the civil and
military secretaries and other presidential officials,
and separate rooms for audience with local and foreign
visitors are also located in the ground floor. In
addition, there is a cabinet room, banquet hall,
darbar hall (court), state dining hall, a
small auditorium and a lounge for local visitors. In
addition to the president's residence, there are five
rooms for officials, a control room and a studio in the
first floor. In the second floor, there are four suites
for foreign heads of state and government.
The Bangabhaban has an open compound of 47 acres of
land. The security office, post office, bank, canteen,
tailoring shop, a three-domed
mosque and barracks of the president's guard
regiment are located in the vicinity of the main gate of
the Bangabhaban. The residential quarters for officers
and staff of the President's office are located in three
outlying areas of Bangabhaban. There are also two
bungalows one for the military secretary and the other
for the assistant military secretary. |
