Description and construction:
Ahsan Manzil is one of the most significant
architectural monuments of Bangladesh. The building structure was
established on a raised platform of 1 meter, the two-storied palace measures
125.4m by 28.75m. The height of the ground floor is 5 meters and the height of
the first floor is 5.8 meters. The thickness of the walls of the palace is
about 0.78 meters. There are porticos of 5 meters height on the northern and
southern sides of the palace. The building has a broad front-facing the
Buriganga River. On the river side, an open spacious stairway leads right up to
the second portal and on their stands the grand triple- arched portals. There
was once a fountain in the garden in front of the stairs which does not exist
today. All along the north and the south side of the building run spacious
verandahs with an open terrace projected in the middle.
The palace Ahsan Manzil is divided into two parts: the eastern
side and the western side. The eastern building with the dome is called the
Rangmahal and the western side with the living rooms is called Andarmahal. The
high octagonal dome is placed on the central round room. There is a large
drawing room, card room, library, state room and two other guest rooms are
located on the east side of the palace. The ballroom, the Hindustani room and
few residential rooms are situated on the western side. A beautiful vaulted
artificial ceiling, made of wood, decorates the drawing room and the Jalsaghar.
A splendid dining hall and few smaller rooms are placed on the west part. The
floors of the dining and Darbar Halls are decorated with white, green and
yellow colored ceramic tiles. The famous store room, where the valuables of the
Nawabs used to be stored, was in the middle of the five rooms located in the
western half of the ground floor. Along with those rooms a Darbar Hall or
assembly hall and a chest room is also place there.
There are attractive wooden stairs in the room that is attached
to the north of the domed room. The balusters were ornamented with vine leaves
made of iron along the railing of the stairs. The wooden ceiling of the room,
decorated with geometric designs, is very elegant. The verandas and rooms are
covered with marble. The doorways are placed within semicircular arches. The
inner doors had multi-colored glasses. Wooden beams supported the roof of these
rooms. The architecture and the decoration is one of a kind in whole
Bangladesh.
The construction of the famous dome of the
Ahsan Mazil, which is at the center of the palace, took a lot tedious planning.
The square room on the ground floor was built with a round shape and brickworks
were done around the corners. To give the room an octagonal shape, squinches
were given around the roof corners. The eight corners of the octagon was
slanted gradually to make the dome look like the bud of a lotus ( kumud kali).
The peak of this dome is 27.13 m above the ground. Ahsan Manzil was severely
damaged during the tornado that occurred on 7 April 1888.the western block of
Andermahal was completely demolished and later it was entirely rebuilt. The
present day dome, which is situated on the top, was built during the time of
reconstruction. This place was also damaged during the earthquake of 1897 but
Nawab Khwaja Ahsanullah repaired the whole place again.
Open 9 am- 5
pm from Saturday to Wednesday and 3-5 pm on Friday. Thursday is close.