News Desk :
The Mosque City of Bagerhat has been listed in the ‘2022 World Monuments Watch’ as one of 25 culturally significant but endangered heritage sites in the world.
World Monuments Fund (WMF), a New York-based non-profit organisation, recently announced its list of selected places facing global challenges on its website. The Watch is announced every two years and includes sites nominated by individuals and community-based organisations that span the globe, reports bdnews24.com
“The Mosque City of Bagerhat, the impressive religious landscape of ancient Khalifatabad, requires effective climate adaptation to ensure its survival and continued service to the community of modern-day Bagerhat,” the WMF said.
Since the programme’s inception in 1996, the Watch has been a proven tool for raising awareness about heritage places in need of protection and galvanising action and support for their preservation. To date, WMF has contributed more than $110 million toward projects at more than 300 Watch sites.
The 2022 call resulted in more than 225 nominations that underwent extensive internal and external review by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and an independent panel of international heritage experts responsible for the final selection.
The sites selected in the Watch illuminate the effects of global issues such as climate change, imbalanced tourism, underrepresentation, and recovery from the crisis, underscoring the need for greater action to support heritage places and the people who care for them, the WMF said.
The Mosque City of Bagerhat, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, was founded by Muslim saint Khan Jahan Ali, also known as Ulug Khan, on the banks of the Bhairab River in the 15th-century.
The city boasts of 360 mosques, of which the Sixty Dome Mosque is the largest. Other mosques include the Singar Mosque, the Nine Dome Mosque, the Tomb of Khan Jahan, the Bibi Begni Mosque and the Ronvijoypur Mosque.
The ancient city, formerly known as Khalifatabad, offers a tantalising glimpse into the initial period of the development of Muslim architecture in Bengal.
The city was created in the space of a few years but was covered up by the jungle after its founder’s death in 1459. It remained obscured from view for many centuries after that.
“This year’s Watch demonstrates that heritage preservation can offer innovative solutions to contemporary global challenges,” said WMF chief Benedicte de Montlaur.
Bangladesh is one of the major countries affected by climate change from across the world. As a result, the heritage sites at Bagerhat have been tackling floods and disasters for a long time as they are situated near the vast estuary of the Bengal delta, said architect Imamur Hossain, who is working as a researcher for the WMF.
The rising sea level, cyclones and tidal surges also pose a threat to the sites, he added.
“Groundwater salinity is also affecting lands as farmers are investing more in shrimp enclosures to turn profits,” said architect Nishant Upadhyay, Hossain’s co-worker on the project.
The other at-risk heritage sites include Tiretta Bazaar (Kolkata), Hitis (Water Fountains) of the Kathmandu Valley (Nepal), Koagannu Mosques and Cemetery (Maldives), Hurst Castle (United Kingdom), Yanacancha-Huaquis Cultural Landscape (Peru), La Maison du Peuple, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Cultural Landscape of the Bunong People (Cambodia), Garcia Pasture (US), Africatown (US), Kinchela Aboriginal Boys Training Home (Australia), Abydos (Egypt), Lamanai (Belize) and Teotihuacan (Mexico).
