Curzon Hall

Curzon Hall was built between 1904 and 1908 and named for the viceroy who laid its foundation stone, intended as a town hall and used as a university building from 1921, and it is the best example in Dhaka of the Indo-Saracenic manner: red brick and white plaster, a long arcaded front with cusped Mughal arches, projecting bays and a broad veranda, set in lawns on the Dhaka University campus. It houses the science faculty. Its place in the country's history is political rather than architectural: it was a centre of the language movement of 1948 to 1952, when students campaigned for Bengali to be recognised, and the campus around it carries a number of monuments to that. The grounds are open and the building is seen from outside.

History

In 1904 the building was planned as a library for Dhaka College, which was to move nearby, and the princes of the Bhawal estate, who paid 150,000 rupees, named it after the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, who laid its foundation stone on 19 February that year. When Bengal was partitioned in 1905 Dhaka became capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam and the hall gained in importance, it was finished in 1908, Dhaka College classes began in it after the partition was undone in 1911, and in 1921 it passed to the new University of Dhaka as part of its science faculty (Wikipedia, Curzon Hall).

The main sights

• Cusped Mughal arches in red brick - the Indo-Saracenic arcaded front.
• The long veranda - the shaded walk across the facade.
• Campus lawns - the setting on the Dhaka University grounds.
• Language movement memorials - the monuments on the surrounding campus.

When to go

November to March. One hour. The building is a working faculty and the interior is not open to visitors; the grounds are. Term time brings students and activity; the campus is quiet in holidays.

Before you go

The interior is a working university and not open. There is no interpretation for visitors. The campus can be closed during political demonstrations, which are not infrequent. Traffic around Ramna is heavy.

Nearby

The National Museum is north; Old Dhaka lies south-west.

Key facts