Ahsan Manzil was built by Khwaja Abdul Ghani and named after his son Khwaja Ahsanullah, the Nawab of Dhaka. It is situated at Kumartali along the bank of the river Buriganga. This was the official residential palace and seat of the Dhaka Nawab family. In order to preserve the past history the palace has become the national museum of Bangladesh on 20 september 1992.
This is one of the most significant building in Bangladesh. The constructed work of the building started in the year 1859 and was completed in 1869. It is constructed in the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. This structure is built on a platform raised 1 meter. The structure measures 125.4 m by 28.75 m. The palace is two-storied. The height of the ground floor is 5 meter and the first floor is 5.8 meter. And the thickness of the wall of the palace is .78 meter. Both of the southern and northern side of the palace there are portico. The building has a broad front-facing to the Buriganga river.
To construct the dome of the Ahsan Manzil, the square room of the ground floor is given a round shape. And then room was given an octagonal shape near the roof. There rooms are covered with marble stone. This octagonal shape takes the drum of the dome and the dome is about 27.13 meter above the ground. There was a fountain in the garden in front of the stairs which does not exist today. The palace is divided into two parts, the eastern and western side. The eastern part of the building with the dome is called the Rang Mahal (room for dance) and the western part is called the Andor Mahal (living room).
There is large drawing room, card room, library are on the eastern part of the palace. On the western part of the palace there are some residential room. The store room where the Nawab used to store their valuable things is situated on the middle of the western part. The Dorbar hall is also at the palace. Inside the palace there are attractive wooden stairs and furniture. The wooden ceiling of the room, decorated with geometric design is also very attractive. The floor of the dining room, Dorbar hall are decorated with white, green and yellow color ceramic tiles. The inner door has multicolored glasses.
Now a days the palace has become a popular tourist spot. Every year a lot of people visit here. For the visitors the following residential hotels can be suggested for their accommodation.
Now a days the palace has become a popular tourist spot. Every year a lot of people visit here. For the visitors the following residential hotels can be suggested for their accommodation.
