JATIYO SRITI SHOUDHO

ABOUT

National Martyrs’ Memorial [ Bengali: জাতীয় স্মৃতি সৌধ ] is the national monument of Bangladesh, set up in the memory of the valour and the sacrifice of all those who gave their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War 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.

History

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.

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. Each of these seven pairs of walls represents a significant chapter in the history of Bangladesh, namely the Language Movement in 1952, the Election of United Front in 1954, the Constitution Movement in 1956, the Education Movement in 1962, 6-point Movement in 1966, the Mass Uprising in 1969, and finally the climatic event of Liberation War in 1971, through which Bangladesh was liberated.