museums in Dhaka City [ঢাকা শহরের যাদুঘর]

At present there are about 140 museums in Bangladesh. The government established some museums and the local authorities and societies established some others. Some private museums are also in existence. There are about 48 museums in Dhaka City. Here we introduce few of those museums.

Bangladesh National Museum 

The Bangladesh National Museum preserves and displays the cultural heritage, as well as specimens of natural history of Bangladesh. It is bridging the past and the present and upholds the national tradition and culture. Established in 1913 AD., the museum was shifted to a new four storied building at Shahabagh in 1983. The four-storied building of the museum has 43 galleries [total floor space of 238,000 square feet] featuring four departments: Department of History and Classical Art, Department of Ethnography and Decorative Art, Department of Contemporary Art and World Civilization, and Department of Natural History. It has a rich collection of paintings, old coins, metal images, world famous embroidered quilts (Nakshi kantha) and much more. You can also find valuable articles of the heroic liberation war here.

Address: Shahbag Dhaka Bangladesh

Phone: (880-2) 8619397-99 Fax: 880-2-8615585

Saturday-Wednesday. 10.00 a.m. 5.00 p.m. and Friday 3.00 p.m.-8.00 p.m.

Weekly holiday: Thursday.

Entrance Fee: Tk 10.00

Mukti Juddha Museum [Liberation War Museum] 

It is one of the major archives of liberation war 1971. The museum contains rare photographs and items used by the freedom fighters during the period.

Address: Sagunbagicha, Dhaka

Phone: (880-2)-9559091-2
monday to saturday: 10.00 am to 5pm (october to february),

10.00 am to 6pm (March to September),

Weekly holiday:Sunday

Bangabandhu Memorial Museum

The residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been turn in to a museum. It contains rare collection of personal effects and photographs of his lifetime. This three- stored building as known as Bangabandhu Bhaban. This building turned in to a museum in year 1997. An attractive mural of Bangabandhu placed in front of this museum.

Address: road no. 32 Dhanmondi R/A. Dhaka

Phone: (880-2) – 8110046

Thursday to Tuesday: from 10.00am - to 6pm

Weekly holiday: Wednesday and all other listed government holidays.

Lalbagh Fort museum

Lalbagh Fort was built in 1678 A.D. by Prince Mohammad Azam, son of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb. The fort was the scene of bloody battle during the first war of independence (1857) when 260 sepoys stationed here backed by the people revolted against British forces. Outstanding among the monuments of the Lelbagh are the tomb of Pari Bibi (Fairy lady), Lalbagh Mosque, Audience Hall and Hammam of Nawab Shaista Khan now housing a museum.

Address: old town, Dhaka

Phone: (880-2) – 9673018

Sunday –Friday: from 10 am-5 pm

Weekly holiday: Saturday

Entry Fee: Per man 10 taka tk.50/ Foreign Entrants.

National Museum of Science & Technology 

National Museum of Science and Technology initially started in 1966 in the Public Library, Shahbagh, Dhaka . It had been transferred to three places before it was shifted to the present permanent site at Agargaon in 1987. There are five galleries. In the galleries, there are embryos of man, bird, animal including their forms, different models of solar region, moon and boat. There are also different scientific apparatus, old machineries and biological species.

Address: Agargaon, Dhaka.

Phone: (880-2) – 9112084
Saturday - Wednesday: from 9.00 am to 5pm

Weekly holiday: Thursday, Friday and all other listed government holidays.

Entry Fee: tk.5/entrants and Saturday and Sunday tk.10/entrants to observe the sky by Telescope.

Ahsan Manjil Museum

It is an example of the nation's rich cultural heritage. It was the home of the Nawab of Dhaka and a silent spectator to many events. The renovated Ahsan Manzil is a monument of immense historical beauty. It has 31 rooms with a huge dome atop which can be seen from miles around. It now has 23 galleries displaying portraits, furniture and household articles and utensils used by the Nawab.

Address: bank of the river Buriganga, Old town

Phone: (880-2) – 7391122, (880-2) –7393866
Friday: from 3.30 am - 7:30 pm
Saturday to Wednesday: 09:30am - 4:30 pm (October to March), 10:30 am - 5:30 pm  (April to September)

Weekly holiday: Thursday and all other listed government holidays.

Shishu Academy Museum

Address: Old High Court Road

(Opp. Karazon Hall), Dhaka-1000

Phone: (880-2) – 9558874
Sunday to Thursday: from 9.00 am - 5pm.

Weekly holiday: Friday, Saturday and all other listed government holidays.

Military Museum

Dhaka The Military Museum established in 1987 to collect, preserve and display the heritage, history, success and development of Bangladesh Army. It was shifted to its permanent place at Bijoy Saroni in 1999. The main objects of the museum are arms and armour, transport of different times, canon, anti-aircraft guns, portraits of heroes of the Liberation War, Sector Commanders and Chief of Staffs of Bangladesh Army, dress, badges, cap, model, etc. Its security arrangement is controlled by the military. Sufficient numbers of army personnel are posted to look after the security of the museum.

Address: Bijy Saroni, Dhaka

Phone: (880-2) – 9870011, (880-2) – 8750011 Extension: 7542

Saturday- Wednesday: from 9.30am-4.30pm

Weekly holiday: Thursday, Friday and all other listed government holidays.

Postal Museum

Dhaka The Postal Museum, established in 1985, is situated on the third floor of the General Post Office in Dhaka. Few people know about it, The museum consists of two rooms. One houses ancient post office memorabilia, from a life-size statue of a runner with spear, lantern and bugle in hand, to weapons, including guns, and other equipment used by runners on display. There are also post boxes from Victorian times and modern post boxes from around the world, franking machines and a replica of a floating mobile post office. There are age-old scales which were used to weigh mail, post office seals and old, rusted badges, uniforms, bags and other paraphernalia used by post office personnel from centuries ago. The other room of the postal museum is filled with around 3,000 stamps from almost 200 countries displayed in glass cases.

Address: GPO, Dhaka

Phone: (880-2) –9555531

Sunday – Thursday: from 9:00am - 4:00pm

Weekly holiday: Friday-Saturday and all other listed government holidays 

Zoo Museum

Dhaka Zoo Museum established in Dhaka Zoo under the Ministry of Livestock. The museum started in 1974 to acquaint the visitors with human heritage, variety and history of birds, animals, etc. of our country. The museum collects, preserves and displays specimens. There are two galleries in the museum with 310-sqm-display area. One gallery is for fish aquarium and others for dummy, mommy, model, eggs of different birds and animals. Aquatic animals are also kept with formalin in the jar.

Address: Mirpur, Dhaka

Monday – Saturday: from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (October-March) and from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm (April-September). It also remains opens to the visitors for certain hours during government holidays.

Weekly holiday: Sunday

Dhaka City Museum

Dhaka Dhaka City Museum started functioning as a movable museum in 1987. Dhaka City Corporation took charge of the museum and finally it was placed in the fifth floor of the Nagar Bhaban ( City Corporation Building ) in 1996. It aims at preserving the past history and heritage of the Dhaka City . The museum is in a big room in the Nagar Bhaban. There are paintings of Eid and Muharram processions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, model of old arts, photographs of different mosques, temples and historical buildings, paper clippings, antiques, portraits of leaders of the then Dhaka, etc.

Address: City Corporation Building, Dhaka

Phone: (880-2) –9567609.

Every official day

Entry Fee: Taka 2/-

Also:

M. R. Tarafder Memorial Museum, Dhaka University,

Dhaka Dhaka University Zoology Museum,

Dhaka DUCSU Shangrahasalah, Dhaka University, Dhaka Bangladesh Rifles Museum (Peelkhana), Dhaka Shahid Matiur Rahman Memorial Museum, the Nabakumar Institution

Bijoy Keton Museum, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka

Interestingly Dhaka University plays a role of key location for visiting most of the museum.

Information and photo courtesy: Wikipedia, Google, Asiatic society and other Bangladeshi site.