National Martyrs' Memorial

The National Martyrs' Memorial (Bengali: জাতীয় শহীদ স্মৃতিসৌধ Jatiyo Sohid Sriti Soudho) is the national monument of Bangladesh, set up in the memory of those who died in the Bangladesh War of Independence of 1971, which brought independence and separated Bangladesh from Pakistan. The monument is located in Savar, about 35 km north-west of the capital, Dhaka. It was designed by Syed Mainul Hossain and built by Concord Group.

History

Syed Mainul Hossain by his own design National Martyrs' Memorial Jatiyo Sriti Soudho Plans for the monument were initiated in 1976. Following the site selection, road and land development, a nationwide design competition was held in June 1978. Following evaluation of the 57 submissions, Syed Mainul Hossain's design was chosen. The main structure and the artificial lake and other facilities were completed in 1982. It was Inaugurated at 16 December 1982.

Description

The architecture is composed of seven pairs of triangular-shaped walls or prisms; the outermost pair being the shortest in height but widest in span, the inner pairs gradually change their aspect ratio and the innermost pair thus forms the peak point of the architecture.[4] Each of these seven pairs of walls represents a significant chapter in the history of Bangladesh, namely the Language Movement in 1952, the 1954 provincial election victory of the United Front in 1954, the Constitution Movement in 1956, the movement against the Education Commission in 1962, the Six point movement in 1966, the Mass Uprising in 1969, and finally the climactic event of the Independence War in 1971, through which Bangladesh became a separate independent sovereign state.