News Flash
By Mahamudur Rahman Najid
DHAKA, July 3, 2025 (BSS) – Dhaka Kendra, a centre for practicing and preserving Dhaka’s history and heritage, culture and customs and traditions, houses archaeological and historical collections.
This unique museum or gallery and library, established under the supervision of the Maula Buksh Sardar Memorial Trust at 23 Mohini Mohan Das Lane in Old Dhaka, has become a complete center for the study of Dhaka's history and heritage.
The Kendra has about 300 rare and scarce old coins, a radio from the Second World War, a second-generation television from the early days of the Dhaka Television Center and the control box of Dhaka's first traffic light.
The main attraction of the Dhaka Kendra is its historical gallery, which also has bags with gun cartridges, bags with handles, gramophone, a typewriter, brass and silver utensils, conch shells, old bricks, porcelain pilaf (pulao) dishes, medicine making machines, special weight measuring devices, perfume jars, rose water jars, “rekabi” (one kind of brass serving dish) and invitation pots, old cameras, watches and maps of various eras.
A special attraction of the Dhaka Kendra is the 'Dhaka Panchayat Gallery' where documents, letters, used furniture and personal belongings of the Panchayats of Dhaka are preserved.
Also, the most important attraction here is the library, which has more than 8,000 books on Dhaka, including books on the history, heritage, research and memories and biographies of freedom fighters.
It has a research center, reading room, book sales center, Bilkis Banu Memorial Auditorium and a natural environment-friendly garden, where there is a victory sculpture of the Liberation War.
The main activities of the Dhaka Kendra are research, publication, exhibition and heritage preservation initiatives on Dhaka.
They regularly organize discussion meetings, reading circles, book publishing programmes and research-based exhibitions.
In addition, the organization is working tirelessly to restore the extinct heritage of Dhaka, preserve the lives and works of freedom fighters, create environmental awareness and make the young generation interested in practicing Dhaka’s culture and heritage.
Visitor Riazul Islam, a student of the anthropology department of Jagannath University, said, "When I entered the Dhaka Kendra, it felt like the past had come before my eyes.”
“Every artifact not only highlights history, but also the deep form of our culture. Every object, every book, every glass exhibition here tells the history of Dhaka. As an anthropology student, I find it as a source of research and a storehouse of personal experience,” he said.
Coordinator of the Kendra Moniruzzaman said, "We want people to come here not just to read books, but to get to know Dhaka city. Dhaka's past, its alleys, culture, leadership, resistance, everything can be found in its library, museum and gallery.”
“Our dream is that there should be discussions about books, research, questions and answers here. Dhaka Center is a practice center for love for Dhaka. This love should develop in our young generation through books, through the words on the pages of books, and through the reflections of history seen in the exhibition. This is our hope," he said.
