New Market, Dhaka

Dhaka New Market, Gate 1

New Market (Bengali: নিউ মার্কেট), north of Azimpur, Dhaka began its construction in 1952 by C&B Dept. on 35 acres (140,000 m²) of land during the period Mr. Nurul Amin, the Chief Minister of East Pakistan. Market was completed in 1954. Mr. Nurul Amin was also active in establishing the first posh Hotel Shahbagh at Shahbagh area (now PG Hospital). This heralded the beginning of a new area of development towards modernizing Dhaka. Rickshaw ride or walking along the narrow lanes of old Dhaka for shopping was not a happy experience for families. Old Dhaka was too conservative, noisy and crowded. Ironically, Mr. Nurul Amin’s modernization project boomeranged as people talked against it. Some believed New Market and Shahbagh Hotel were made exclusively for Nurul Amin’s family. The rumor gave credence to common people, so much so that in the general election of 1954, Muslim League was routed in East Pakistan by the United Front of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq and Maulana Bhasani. Mr. Nurul Amin lost in election miserably against a less known student leader, losing the deposit money.

Shape

New market area is triangular in shape with 3 high arched entry gates on three sides. There were spaces for 440 shops and a nice triangular lawn at the center.

50's and 60's

In 50's and 60's, it was the most popular place for shopping as well as recreation. Young people, particularly college and university students in groups used to hang around inside the market arena. "Novelty", an ice-cream shop, was one of the most popular destinations of the young people. As a matter of fact, it was one of the pioneer ice-cream parlours in the country.

80's - Present

Inside Dhaka New Market

In the 80’s, 3 more New Market blocks were constructed on the north under Dhaka City Corporation e.g. New Super Market for crockeries, Bonolata for kitchen market, Chandrima and 'Gausia' market for varieties of items and D- block for groceries, each having over 1000 shops. The nice green park inside has been converted into a mosque at first floor level with 60 new shops under it.There is a mosque inside the 'New Market' area, which called 'Plane mosque'. Many new large and ultra modern malls have sprung up in Dhaka, but the demand of New Market in Dhaka is still unique.