Rose Garden is a historic palace located in KM Das Lane, Tikatuli, Old Dhaka. It is very close to the Baldha Garden. Bangladesh Awami League was formed in 1949 in this palace. The Rose Garden is a royal garden house with white stone statues, artificial jets and fountains, paved ponds and sculptures in a unique architectural style. The name of Rose Garden is associated with the birth history of Bangladesh. The once historic Rose Garden has now taken on a new name, Rashid Manzil.
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Infrastructure of Rose Garden
Rose Garden is one of the most beautiful ancient palaces in Dhaka. It has two main gates between the west and north walls. Upon entering through the west gate, one first finds a wide open courtyard. Here are some beautiful female statues standing on stages. There is a rectangular pond in the middle of the eastern part of the garden house. There are paved ghats on the east and west banks of the pond. The west-facing two-storey building is in east side. This is the then Rose Garden and the present ‘Rashid Manzil’.
In the wide courtyard and in front of the entrance of the palace, there is a beautiful fountain made of brick-cement. There is a seven-step staircase leading to the ground floor. Three arched doors are along each room in the middle part of the front of the building. There are podiums on each arch upstairs. The tympanums are decorated with herbaceous designs and colored glasses.
The balconies of Rose Garden are elliptical. The building is surrounded by ten large and long Corinthian columns. On each floor of the building, there is a patterned door with each column. The upper part of the balcony has curved cornices, which are decorated with balustrade design. At the front of the roof is a tower with eight corners and arches, the top of which is covered with a semicircular dome. The dome also has two Corinthian columns at the two corners of the building. The palace has a total of 13 rooms in two floors, including a large ballroom. To the left of the west side of the ground floor, there is a revolving staircase to go upstairs.
History of Rose Garden
Hrishikesh Das was a prominent zamindar of Dhaka in the early twentieth century. His residence was on Hrishikesh Das Road (now near Tanti Bazar). He led a very luxurious life and was a fancy person. At that time, Baldha Garden was a place of elite rejoicing. Thus Baldha Garden became an important center of social life of the wealthy Hindus of the city. But Hindu society has always had caste system and unfortunately Hrishikesh Das was a lower caste Hindu. So Hrishikesh was not welcomed in the Jalsa in Baldha Garden.
Hrishikesh Das decided to build the Rose Garden in response to the humiliation of Narendra Narayan Roy Chowdhury, the zamindar of Baldha Garden. He first bought 22 bighas of land in the KM Das lane area. Then he brought soil and roses from different countries of the world and made a rose garden on that land, that is what happened in 1930. Behind that rose garden in 1931, he built this elegant palace of architecture, which later became known as the Rose Garden.
Occupancy of Rose Garden
But the tragedy is that Hrishikesh Das could not survive in this competition of wealth and luxury. Shortly after the construction of the building, he had to sold it to a businessman named Abdur Rashid. Abdur Rashid’s name is still engraved on the building. The famous Provincial Library was established here, owned by businessman Abdur Rashid.
In 1966, Abdur Rashid’s brother Kazi Humayun took possession of the Rose Garden Palace. Since then, the building has become known as “Mr. Humayun’s house”. In 1970, Kazi Humayun leased the house to the then film development company Motion Pictures Limited. At that time the building became famous as Bengal Studio. When the Bengal studio left in 1993, the house was relocated to the Kazi Humayun family. But Kazi Humayun was no longer alive, so his descendant Kazi Rakib got the ownership of the building.
How to get to Rose Garden
From Gulistan or Jatrabari in Dhaka, take a rickshaw straight to the Rose Garden in KM Das Lane, Tikatuli. Many rickshaw pullers may not know the Rose Garden. So you will tell the rickshaw puller to go to Mr. Humayun’s house.
Schedule to visit Rose Garden
There is no fee to enter the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden is open daily from 8 am to 5 pm. However, prior permission is required to enter the main building.
Nearby places of interest
Very close to the Rose Garden are the Baldha Garden and the Christian Cemetery. If you have time, you can visit Baldha Garden and other places of interest in old Dhaka.
Where to eat
Old Dhaka has a special tradition for food. You can choose your favorite food from Al-Razzaq, Hajir Biryani, Kashmiri Kachchi, Beauty Boarding or Sultan’s Tea.
Very detailed forgotten history of Puran Dhaka thanks for sharing!💚❤️
Thank you very much.