Hussaini Dalan

Hussaini Dalan
হোসেনী দালান
Entrance to the Hussaini Dalan
Religion
Affiliation	Shia Islam
Location
Location	Dhaka, Bangladesh
Geographic coordinates	23.7224°N 90.3979°E / 23.7224; 90.3979
Architecture
Type	Mosque
Style	Islamic architecture
Date established	1642 (1015 Higri)
Interior area	9,380 sq ft (871 m2)
Website
hussainidalan.com

Hussaini Dalan in 1904

The Hussaini Dalan (Template:Lang-bn) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was originally built during the later half of the Mughal rule (17th century) in Old Dhaka as the "Imambara", or "house of the Imam", of the Shia Muslim community. The Hussaini Dalan today serves as Dhaka's central Hussainiyya - the name given to an Islamic centre which holds traditional Majalis (gatherings) in the month of Muharram, to annually commemorate and mourn the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, namely Imam Al-Hussain - who was killed in the legendary Battle of Karbala.

History

According to Taylor (1839),

The principal Mahommedan places of worship are the Edgah and Hossainee Delaun, the latter is said to have been built by a person named Mir Murad, who held the Darogahship of the Nawarrah Mehals, and had charge of the public buildings in the time of Sultan Muhammad Azam.

It was built during the Subedari of Prince Shah Shuja (r. 1639–1647 and 1652–1660), son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Although Shuja was a Sunni Muslim, he patronized Shia institutions too. According to tradition, “Mir Murad had a vision of Imam Hussain erecting a 'taziah khana' or house of mourning which led to the construction of Hussaini Dalan.

Raised on the foundations of a former small taziakhana, the building has undergone alterations. During the rule of the East India Company, it was repaired in 1807 and 1810. The original date of construction is still disputed, but Hussaini Dalan in its present form is attributed to Nasrat Jung, who rebuilt the imambara in 1823. The present flat roof was rebuilt by Nawab Ahsanuallah Bahadur after the earthquake of 1897, and another verandah was added to the southern side.

Architecture

The main building is situated in the middle of complex, built on an area of about 0.65 Bighas (9,380 sq. ft/ 88.05 sq. meters). In the south touching the building there is a “pond” having an area of 1.01 Bighas (14,544 sq. ft/ 1376.95 sq meters). This pond is the main attraction of this building which touches the walls of the building

Built on a raised platform, it is a long rectangular building with four simple, yet elegant, cabins at the corners. An attractively built arched gateway, to the north gives right of entry to the building, while a stonework water tank is located directly to the south of the building.

The exterior incorporates both Mughal and British architectural traditions. The south verandah, overlooking the deep-water tank, best illustrates western background, with four columns of Doric order supporting the verandah. Mughal characteristics are seen in the attached three-storeyed pavilion with arched windows and the row of kanjuras (decorative merlons) on the roof.

The main floor of the building is raised on a platform that has rooms containing graves. On the main floor, two large halls known as Shirni hall and Khutba hall are placed back to back to form the nucleus of the building complex. Subsidiary two-storied rooms are on either side of the halls, probably to accommodate a congregation of ladies. And there is a series of three rooms on the east and the west. The side rooms, with the exception of those in the northernmost side room, have galleries on the second storey.

Actvities

Shia Muslims are a religious minority in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As per tradition, the first 10 days of Muharram sees the Hussaini Dalan becoming a centre of communal mourning in the old city. It is known that both Sunni and Shia Muslim locals participate, culminating on the day of Ashura - 10th Muharram - when a large, public procession parades through the streets. Mourning rites culminate again on 20th Safar, the day of Arbaeen, and comes to an end on the eve of Farhat Al-Zahra, on 9th Rabbi Al-Awwal.

2015 Terrorist Attack

In the early hours of Saturday 24th October 2015, coinciding with the day of Ashura, three homemade bombs detonated at the Hussaini Dalan amongst some 20,000 worshippers, resulting in the killing of one 14 year-old teenage boy, and the wounding of at least 80 others. It is believed to be the first time Bangladesh's Shia Muslim minority were targeted in such an attack within the pre-dominantly Sunni Muslim country, where the two groups have seemingly good relations. The terrorist attack was later claimed by Daesh, but the Bangladeshi government laid the blame on local, ideologically identical militants.

A few months later, another mosque belonging to Bangladesh's Shia Muslim minority was victim to a similar attack, where masked gunmen entered and indiscriminately shot at worshippers, killing one and injuring three.

Gallery

• 
  Entrance of the Hussaini Dalan
• 
  Side view
• 
  Islamic calligraphy on the walls
• 
  Rising minarets of the Hussaini Dalan
• 
  Islamic calligraphy in the north face
• 
  Front (north) face of the Hussaini Dalan
• 
  The Hussaini Dalan at night
• 
  The Hussaini Dalan

References

• Ahmed, N. (1984). Discover the Monuments of Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Limited, (pp. 180–181).
• Sayed, H. M. (1980). Muslim Monuments of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Islamic Foundation, (p. 58).
• Asher, Catherine, B. (1984). Inventory of Key Monuments. Art and Archaeology Research Papers: The Islamic Heritage of Bengal. Paris: UNESCO, (p. 56).
• Shiraji, M. M. (2006). Hussaini Dalan 2006. (n.d) Retrieve from: www.hussainidalan.com
• http://www.Hussainidalan.com/ website is not official website of Hussaini Dalan Imambara. It's fully credit, maintain and developed by: Rashed Hossain Najafi website email contact info@hussainidalan.com

See also

• Architecture of Bengal
• Islam in Bangladesh
• Shia Islam in India
• Shia Islam in Pakistan

External links

• http://www.hussainidalan.com/
• The Bengali website of Grand Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq Al-Shirazi: http://shirazi.ir/bangla/index.htm