| Ruplal House an imposing early
19th century mansion located on the northern bank of the Buriganga, overlooking
a riverfront promenade along the buckland
bund in the Farashganj locality of old Dhaka, was erected jointly
by two affluent merchant brothers named Ruplal Das and Raghunath, sons
of Swarup Chandra. They purchased an old building from Aratun, an Armenian
tycoon, in 1840 and had it pulled down. Ruplal House was built on the
site at a huge cost, according to the design of an architect of the Martin
Company in Calcutta. Divided into two unequal blocks in slightly different
styles, it is a two-storeyed edifice. It presents a Grand River front,
about 9144m long, and exhibits a fine example of the late Renaissance
European architecture introduced during the colonial period. Its ground
plan follows the shape of the letter 'E', with three arms extending toward
the north or the city side, of which the middle arm projects about 1830m.
It accommodates a grand portico carried on a series of lofty semi-Corinthian
fluted columns, and surmounted by a triangular pediment, characteristic
of Renaissance architecture.
The two
blocks include, in two storeys, over fifty rooms of various sizes
and of them the central hall on the upper floor of the more impressive
western wing was an elegantly decorated dance hall with a wooden
floor. On the north and south two broad verandahs run the entire
length of the block and are supported on either round semi-Corinthian
columns or rectangular brick pillars with segmented or trefoil arches
above. |
|
Ruplal House, Dhaka |
During its halcyon days it vied with ahsan
manzil in splendour and elegance. In 1888 Ruplal gave a ball
in honour of lord
dufferin, the viceroy of India, during his visit to Dhaka in
the dance hall of Ruplal House. It has recently been 'protected' by the
Department of Archaeology, but a colony of squatters continue to occupy
parts of the building. [Nazimuddin Ahmed]
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