Lalbagh Fort, Dhaka [May 2008]

03 May 2008

Lalbagh Fort (Lalbagh Kella)is a palace fortress, the construction of which was begun by Prince Azam, the son of the Mughal Emperor Augangzeb in 1678 but eventually its construction was abandoned by the Mughal Subadar Shaista Khan in 1684. It accommodates, within its partially fortified perimeter, a two-storied elegant audience hall cum Hammam, a tomb, a three-domed mosque, and a water tank. In addition, there are three imposing gateways at different points of its surviving defence wall. Moreover, the walls on the south and west are provided with facetted bastions at intervals.






Beneath the south gate........




Inside the south gate........




The massive water tank......


Inside part of the southern wall...........






The cannon........


The three-domed mosque.........

The Audience Hall & Hammam:
This graceful two storied building, erected as a residence of the Mughal governor of Bengal in late 17th century, has a large central hall in each storey, which is flanked by two square apartments on either side, an elaborate Hammam complex with toilets, changing rooms and water heating coilsters, each fitted with embedded earthen pipes in walls, forms as an annex to this luxurious residence on east, the curved roof of its upper storey is conspicuously shaped in the form of a familiar rural hut of Bangladesh.













Tomb of Pari Bibi:
Traditionally attributed to be the tomb of Bibi Pari, a favourite daughter of the Mughal Subadar Shaista Khan, is a unique monument in Bangladesh where marble stones, black basalt and glazed tiles have been used to embellish the interior of its nine chambers; whereas the roofs of the chambers are spanned by massive overlapping courses of black basalt. The central tomb chamber is covered by a false copper dome. The construction of the tomb, measuring 20.2 metre square was completed before 1688 AD.