Kahn was commissioned in the early 1960s, when Dhaka was to be Pakistan's second capital, and work stopped during the 1971 war. It resumed after independence and the complex was finished in 1982, eight years after Kahn's death. Huge circles, triangles and squares cut into the walls let light into the interior, and the building seems to float on the artificial lake around it. Visitors see it from Manik Mia Avenue and the Crescent Lake side, where families gather on winter afternoons.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- About an hour
- Cost
- Free to view from outside; rickshaw from Farmgate about ৳30–50
How to get to National Parliament House
At Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in central Dhaka. Farmgate and Asad Gate are a short walk away; buses on Mirpur Road and rickshaws from Farmgate get you there.
Going inside the building needs prior permission from the Parliament Secretariat.
More to see in Dhaka
Photo: Farha Fawzia Atashi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Lalbagh Fort লালবাগ কেল্লা
An unfinished Mughal fort of 1678 in the old city, with a mosque, a governor's hall and the tomb of Pari Bibi set among lawns.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Entry roughly ৳20–30 for Bangladeshis, more for foreign visitors; rickshaw from Azimpur about ৳50
Photo: Mahbub Hossain Shaheed (mahosha), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Ahsan Manzil আহসান মঞ্জিল
The pink, domed palace of the Nawabs of Dhaka on the Buriganga riverfront, now a museum of the family's rooms and portraits.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Entry roughly ৳20–40 for Bangladeshis, more for foreign visitors; a boat across the river about ৳20–50 a person
Photo: Azim Khan Ronnie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons National Martyrs' Memorial জাতীয় স্মৃতিসৌধ
Seven pairs of concrete triangles rising to a single peak at Savar, in memory of those who died in the 1971 Liberation War.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Entry free; bus from Gabtoli about ৳50 each way
Photo: Dip Loho, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Dhamrai old town ধামরাই
A small trading town known for its wooden Jagannath chariot and for families who still cast brass and bell metal by the lost-wax method.
- Best time
- June–July for the Rath Yatra, or November to February
- Give it
- Half a day
- Cost
- No entry fees; bus from Gabtoli under ৳100 each way; rickshaw in town about ৳30–50
Photo: Asivechowdhury, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Kalakopa zamindar houses কলাকোপার জমিদার বাড়ি
A cluster of 19th-century merchant and zamindar mansions on the Ichamati river in Nawabganj, with the odd temple-house of Khelaram Data.
- Best time
- November to February
- Give it
- Half a day
- Cost
- No entry fees; bus from Dhaka about ৳100 each way; rickshaw around the houses about ৳150–200