In the centre of Dhaka, the booming city of 50 million people lies a green sanctuary with thousands of trees, spacious green meadows with picturesque walkways, and a serene lake. The place is so peaceful, but so near to some of the busiest areas of the capital city that anybody entering the space will feel like they are lost in the Garden of Eden, where honks of rushing vehicles, unbearable heat radiating from their engines, and footpaths full of rushing pedestrians are replaced by sweet chirps of birds, cool breeze from lush lakeside gardens and walkways covered with flowers falling from blossoming Gulmeher trees.
This piece of heaven inside Dhaka is Ramna Park; Dhaka’s most beautiful and popular public park. The place is so cool, that according to a study the temperature of Ramna is at least three degree Celsius less than many areas of Dhaka like Motijheel, Gulistan etc.
The history of Ramna is as old as the city itself. In 1605, when Mughal Subadar Islam Khan Chishty conquered Bengal from the Pathan kings, he established the provincial capital in Dhaka and named it Jahangirnagar. Islam Khan selected Ramna as the quarter of high ranking Mughal officials. The name “Ramna” which is a Persian word meaning “Lawn” was also given by the same renowned Mughal governor.
Some of the colonial rulers of the British East India Company cleared some parts of Ramna Park and demolished most of the Mughal buildings except the mosque and tomb of Musa Khan, which are still standing tall, even now, in the Dhaka University campus. They also established a racecourse which has now been replaced by Suhrawardy Uddyan and a club which is still functioning as Dhaka Club, for their recreation and entertainment. However, Ramna Park got its heavenly garden-like look in 1908 when Dhaka regained its glory of being the capital city, after the partition of Bengal in 1905. The main planner of England’s famous Kew Garden R L Prowd lock came to Dhaka and took the initiative to convert the dilapidated Ramna into Ramna Green, the central public park of Dhaka. He was assisted by Fazlul Karim, the key architect of Calcutta’s Eden Garden, who was also the key person to give the present shape of Ramna Park.
Some of the colonial rulers of the British East India Company cleared some parts of Ramna Park and demolished most of the Mughal buildings except the mosque and tomb of Musa Khan, which are still standing tall, even now, in the Dhaka University campus. They also established a racecourse which has now been replaced by Suhrawardy Uddyan and a club which is still functioning as Dhaka Club, for their recreation and entertainment. However, Ramna Park got its heavenly garden-like look in 1908 when Dhaka regained its glory of being the capital city, after the partition of Bengal in 1905. The main planner of England’s famous Kew Garden R L Prowd lock came to Dhaka and took the initiative to convert the dilapidated Ramna into Ramna Green, the central public park of Dhaka. He was assisted by Fazlul Karim, the key architect of Calcutta’s Eden Garden, who was also the key person to give the present shape of Ramna Park.
In the afternoon, the milieu of the park becomes a little different. In these late hours, visitors are seen to be resting more than jogging, as they come to refresh their body and mind after a long day of hard work. Many people can be seen lying under the trees, students of Fine Arts are seen painting the sceneries before them; photographers are scurrying busy, capturing the nature and the other face of the busy Dhaka.
At present the park is maintained by the Public Works of Department (PWD) which has taken several drives to ensure security and a healthy environment in the park, however, some of these came at the cost of the citizen’s access to the park. To ensure security, citizens have been prohibited to enter the park after 6 o’clock in the evening.
Pahela Baishakh ceremony is hold in the park by CHAYANAT.
Ramna is the place where Dhaka, as a city, started to function and still it is preserving the city’s natural harmony