Bailey Road is a well-known thoroughfare and an upscale area in

Ramna Ramna () is a thana (precinct) in central Dhaka and a historic colonial neighbourhood. Once the site of Mughal gardens, it developed into an institutional area during British rule in the late 19th century. It became a focal point for Dhaka's ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), 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. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, the capital city of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. It is a classic road in Dhaka which runs through Shiddheswari, connecting Hare Road with Shantinagar junction. It is regarded as one of the busiest areas of the city, constructed during the colonial era, now serving both as a residential area for civil servants, high court judges as well as government offices and shopping malls and food courts. The Bailey Road is considered as two distinct roads, one after another, they are the new Bailey Road and the Bailey Road. The new Bailey Road is well recognised for its famous theatres, numerous

boutique A () is a retail shop that deals in high end fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in anc ...

s, shops, schools, fast foods, restaurants and various hangout places. The old Bailey Road is reputable because of the officers club, Foreign Service academy and homes of ministers, officers and government officials. Bailey Road was featured in a song of the same name by

Ayub Bachchu Ayub Bachchu (; 16 August 1962 – 18 October 2018) was a Bangladeshi rock guitarist, composer, singer and songwriter, who was the founder of the Bangladeshi rock band Love Runs Blind and earned success as the lead singer and the lead guitarist ...

, lead singer of the popular rock band LRB. Bailey Road was officially renamed Natok Soroni (Theater Street), in recognition of the road's contributions to

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

in the capital.'

History

Ramna was a forest-like area during British rule. Initially, Charles Dos, the

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

of Dhaka was responsible for its development. He transformed that area into a

race course A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

and garden, which the high class and rich people of that time used to visit. In 1840 it developed into a small town. Gradually people started building houses on the north side of Ramna. In 1859 surveyor general divided Ramna into two different parts, they are the Ramna plains and the race course. The government tried to modify the Ramna plains and turn it into the new capital city. He wanted to achieve this by building roads through 100 acres of greenland. Beside the roads were several great buildings made for the residence of higher officials such as the governor, justice, council members, secretaries and division heads. Coming back from the scenes of

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

, even today Ramna has remained as one of the most notable and sophisticated areas. Bailey Road which lies between Ramna is also one of the most prominent and prestigious roads in Dhaka. Bailey Road was named in honour of Sir Steuart Colvin Bayley, Lieutenant-Governor of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

from 1879 to 1882. However, in recognition of Bailey Road's importance to the theatre community of Dhaka, on 26 August 2005 the Mayor of Dhaka, Sadek Hosen Khoka, announced that the name of the road would change to Natok Soroni, meaning "Theater Road", in a ceremony that was attended by theater personalities including Sayed Ahmed, Liakat Ali Lucky, M Hamid, Ramendu Majumdar and Mamunur Rashid.

Theater Street

Bailey Road has been the centre of theatre practices as well as theatre performers. The stage productions of Dhaka's major drama companies are usually performed in Bailey Road. Over the years, its theatres have played host to some of the country's best actors and actresses. The two major theatres on the road that regularly host local and international theatre performances are:

Guide House Auditorium

The Guide House was established in 1964 as the headquarters of the East Pakistan Branch of the Pakistan Girl Guides Association. The auditorium was built in 1982 to create a funding stream for what was by then the

Bangladesh Girl Guides Association The Bangladesh Girl Guides Association () is the national Guiding organization of Bangladesh. It serves 49,975 members (as of 2003). History Girlguiding in today's Bangladesh started in 1928 and became the ''East Pakistan Branch'' of the Pakis ...

. In 2003–04 the auditorium underwent a structural upgrade with advice from eminent theatre personalities M Hamid, Jamaluddin and Nasiruddin Yusuf.

Mahila Samity auditorium

Mahila Samity auditorium is a centre for stage productions, located in the building of the

Bangladesh Mahila Samiti Bangladesh Mahila Samiti (Bengali language, Bengali: বাংলাদেশ মহিলা সমিতি) is a women's organization in Bangladesh descended from the All Pakistan Women's Association that was originally established by Ra'ana Li ...

. Closed for renovations in 2011, it reopened in 2016.

Shopping and eateries

The street is also popular among Dhaka's residents for its quality bookshops, clothing boutiques (i.e. the Jamdani sari stores), and fast food shops.

Eateries

Bailey Road played an important role in popularising fast food culture in Dhaka in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The area now features fast food shops Palki, Bailey Garden Restaurant, Bamboo Castle, Oasis, New Dahlia's, Chicken King, La Vista, Hot Cake, Euro Hut, Golpea Burger, Golden Food, Boomers, Sausage, Bamboo Castle, Al-Baik, Sub zero, Euro-Hut,

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...

and

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., commonly referred to as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware-domiciled and headquartered ...

. It also features Pitha Ghar, a place for indigenous Bengali sweetmeat (known as

Pitha Pithas () are a variety of food similar to pancakes, dumplings or fritters, originating from India and Bangladesh. Pitha can be sweet or savoury, and usually made from a dough or batter, which is then steamed, fried or griddled. Very few varieties ...

) such as Prominent, Rosh, Capital confectionery, Chom Chom Sweetmeat and Swiss Bakery, one of the oldest confectioneries in Dhaka. Eateries in Bailey Road overall offer both desi and continental foods.

Shopping centres and Boutiques

Bailey Road is a prominent place for shopping. Traditional and local sarees and dresses are sold there. Major boutiques on Bailey Road include the handloom sari shops, like Tangali Sari Kutir and Jamdani Sari Kutir. Sarees such as jamdani, katan, muslin, cotton, and tangali are vastly sold each day. Bailey Road is that there are several shopping malls such as Bailey Star. Also, it has numerous brand stores like Celebration, Pride, Fit Elegance, Lubnan, Richman, Rex, Ecstasy, Moods, Shada Kalo, and many more. In 2006,

Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, made gift of silk Jamdani saris from the former to

Gursharan Kaur Gursharan Kaur Kohli (born 13 September 1937) is an Indian history professor, author and widow of the former Prime Minister of India, Late Dr. Manmohan Singh. Early life Kaur was the youngest of seven siblings born to Sardar Chattar Singh Ko ...

, wife of Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

, and

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...

, chief of ruling

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Education

Bailey Road is within the walking distance of many academic institutions. These are

Viqarunnisa Noon School and College Viqarunnisa Noon School & College (), also known as VNSC, is an all-girls secondary school and college in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It has about 25,000 students at four campuses in the city. It is named after Viqar un Nisa Noon. History The school be ...

, Siddeshwari Girls' High School and Shiddheswari Girls' College are situated on this road.

Officers' Club

Officers' Club was established in 1967 on 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) of land in a picturesque setting at Ramna (Bailey Road), Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its membership is open only to government officers and the officers of semi-government or autonomous bodies. The land with a colonial building was once given to the club by the PWD (Public Works Dept.). The government also provided funds to construct an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

, covered badminton complex, swimming pool tennis courts, etc. The club has now about 2,000 members and is run by an executive committee headed by the cabinet secretary of the government. Its members are elected through a secret ballot every two years. The club has a library, a newly built 2-storey auditorium, three tennis courts, and facilities to play badminton, table tennis,

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

, cards,

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

etc.

Foreign Service Academy

Foreign Service Academy The Foreign Service Academy () in Islamabad, Pakistan is the training arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. Since its establishment in September 1981, the academy has organized 49 courses of the Foreign Service of Pakistan out of ...

is a training institute of

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

to train the

BCS BCS may refer to: American football * Bowl Championship Series, a system that selected matchups for major college football bowl games between 1998 and 2013 * BCS conferences, the six FBS conferences with automatic major bowl bids under that sys ...

Foreign Affairs cadres. Formerly known as the Foreign Affairs Training Institute, it was merged with Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy in 1987. The Academy was inaugurated on 1 January 1997, and temporarily housed at the State guest house 'Sugandha'.

Residence of officials and ministers

Many government officials, officers and ministers reside in Bailey Road. The ancient homes called 'lal bari' are placed there, where the ministers live.

References

External links

Theater in Bangaledsh

Dhaka City Map

Army map of Bailey Road
{{Coord, 23.740874, N, 90.402445, E, display=title Neighbourhoods in Dhaka Streets in Dhaka