Baitul Mukarram National Mosque (বায়তুল মোকাররম)

Baitul Mukarram stands on Topkhana Road in Paltan, in the commercial centre of Dhaka near Gulistan and Motijheel. It is the national mosque of Bangladesh. The industrialist Abdul Latif Ibrahim Bawani proposed it in 1959, construction began on 27 January 1960 on the site of the old Paltan pond, and prayers started in 1963. The building was completed in 1968.

The name means the holy house. After independence, the government placed the mosque under the management of the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh in 1975, and an extension completed in 2008 was funded by a donation from the Saudi government.

The architect, Abdulhusein M. Thariani, gave the main prayer building a plain cube form inspired by the Kaaba in Mecca. It has no main dome, unlike most South Asian mosques. The building is eight storeys and about 99 feet high, set on a raised platform with wide steps and terraces. Two domed porticoes mark the entrances, and the open courtyards and verandas allow very large congregations. The complex can hold more than 42,000 worshippers.

The mosque hosts the main national Eid congregations, and the ground floor and surrounding buildings house a large market selling everything from religious books and prayer items to electronics and jewellery.

Visitors can come outside prayer times with no entry fee. Dress modestly, remove shoes before entering the prayer areas, and women may be directed to a separate section. Avoid Friday midday, when the mosque and surrounding streets are extremely crowded. Gulistan and the Motijheel area are a short walk away.

Site, first prayers and the builders of Baitul Mukarram

Baitul Mukarram stands on a site of 8.3 acres chosen in 1959, where Paltan pond once lay. The first Friday prayers were held on 25 January 1963. The architect's own firm, Thariani and Co., was the general contractor.

The prayer hall gets light and air from two roofless inner courtyards, and its prayer niche is rectangular, not the usual semicircle. The north and south entrance porticoes each have three arches. On the east side, an open courtyard of 29,000 square feet takes the overflow on busy days, with ablution areas on its north and south sides. The garden borrows from Mughal design, though space did not allow a full four-part charbagh. Shops, offices, libraries and parking fill the rest of the complex.