The Museum of Independence in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

depicts the struggle for independence of Bangladesh. It shows the history of the nation since Mughal tenure to independence in 1971. It is the first and only underground museum in the country. The museum is part of a 67-acre complex at

Suhrawardy Udyan Suhrawardy Udyan ( bn, সোহরাওয়ার্দী উদ্যান) formerly known as Ramna Race Course ground is a national memorial located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Originally it serve ...

, the site from where

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

gave his historic speech declaring the struggle for independence, and where the Pakistani forces surrendered after the

War of Liberation Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separa ...

. The museum was opened to public on March 25, 2015, the 45th

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...

of Bangladesh.

Architecture

The underground museum is part of a master plan that includes a multimedia projection theater, an amphitheater, three water pools, Shikha Chirantony (eternal flame) symbolizing the eternity of

Bengali nationalism Bengalism or Bengali nationalism () was a form of nationalism that focused on Bengalis as a singular nation. The people of Bengali ethnicity speak Bengali language. Bengalis mostly live across Bangladesh and the Indian states of Tripura an ...

, a mural based on the struggle for independence and other ancillary facilities. There is also a 155-seat auditorium in the complex. The focal point in the experience of the space is the monument, Tower of Light which is a 50-meter high tower composed of stacked glass panels. The museum is situated beneath the tower of light. The museum's plaza area has a 5669 square meter of tiled floor. Its underground terrace has a fountain at the center where water is falls from over the ceiling. Bangladeshi architects Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury and

Marina Tabassum Marina Tabassum (born ) is a Bangladeshi architect. She is the principal architect of Marina Tabassum Architects. In 2016, she won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of Bait-ur-Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2020, Tabassum ...

won a national design competition in 1997 and subsequently they were commissioned for the project. The total construction cost of the complex was 1.75 billion tk.

Exhibition

The museum has a collection of over 300 historic photographs in 144 glass panels that depict the history of Bangladesh. Terracotta, pictures and paper clippings of the war of liberation is on display at the museum. Copies of foreign newspapers and reports showing different events of war of liberation are kept in the gallery. The gallery also showcases some of the significant archaeological sites and monuments of Bangladesh. A replica of the table, where the eastern zone commander of

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi signed the surrender document, is kept in the gallery.

Images

File:Museum of Independence 03.jpg, Documentary on independence of Bangladesh is being shown on the gallery wall. File:Independence Monument glass tower.jpg, The Tower of Light is seen on the right and the mural stretching from left. File:Museum of Independence 02.jpg, Gallery at the museum.

References

External links

{{Coord, 23.734475, N, 90.398270, E, display=title Museums in Dhaka Decorative arts museums Tourist attractions in Dhaka Culture in Dhaka Museums established in 2015 2015 establishments in Bangladesh