New Market, Dhaka
New Market (Bengali: নিউ মার্কেট) is a commercial shopping market in north of Azimpur, Dhaka.
History
The market started in 1952 by CBD during the period of Nurul Amin, the Chief Minister of East Pakistan. Construction was completed in 1954. This heralded the beginning of a new area of development towards modernizing Dhaka. Rickshaw ride or walking along the narrow lanes of old Dhaka for shopping was not a happy experience for families. Old Dhaka was too conservative, noisy and crowded. Ironically, Mr. Nurul Amin’s modernization project boomeranged as people talked against it. Some believed New Market and Shahbagh Hotel were made exclusively for Nurul Amin’s family.
Architecture
New Market area is triangular in shape with high arched entry gates on three sides. There were spaces for 440 shops and a triangular lawn at the center. The total area was 35 acres (140,000 m2) of land.
Legacy
During 1950's and 1960's, it was the most popular place for shopping as well as recreation. Novelty, an ice-cream shop, was one of the most popular destinations of the young people. During the 1980s, 3 more New Market blocks were constructed on the north under Dhaka City Corporation, for exapmle, New Super Market for crockeries, Bonolata for kitchen market, Chandrima and Gausia market for varieties of items and D block for groceries, each having over thousand shops. The nice green park inside has been converted into a mosque at first floor level with sixty new shops under it. There is a mosque inside the New Market area which is called Aeroplane Mosque.
References
- Rahman, S M Mahfuzur (2012). "New Market, Dhaka". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
External links
Coordinates: 23°44′00″N 90°23′02″E / 23.7333°N 90.3839°E
