Ali Amjad Khan’s clock tower - the first and oldest clock tower in Bangladesh A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Although clock towers are today mostly admired for their aesthetics, they once served an important purpose. Before the middle of the twentieth century, most people did not have watches, and prior to the18th century even home clocks were rare. Some clock towers are renowned landmarks. Big Ben in London, Spasskaya tower of the Moscow Kremlin, Royal Mecca clock tower in Saudi Arabia which is the largest clock tower in the world and Tower of Winds which is the oldest clock tower in Athens. But many people have no idea about the tale of the oldest clock tower in Bangladesh. When there was no watch in whole Sylhet, Ali Amjad Clock Tower was the only medium for knowing the time of a day in the city area. ‘Ali Amjad’s Clock Tower’ locally known as ‘Ali Amajader Ghari’ or ‘Gharighar’ was established in 1874 by Nawab Ali Amjad Khan’s father Nawab Ali Ahmed Khan who named this tower after his 3-year old child Nawab Ali Amjad Khan, born in 1871. Ali Amjad Khan’s clock tower is the first and oldest clock tower in Bangladesh and a pride of Sylhet. The tower is the most significant recreational spot in Sylhet city, as the visitors tend to express curiosity to know how the big clock once functioned. This clock has a charming function that it can ring bell each hour the sound of this bell blows over the whole city if the city environment stays calm and quite. Clock tower might not be an interesting thing to observe with attention to many people world wide, but it is really rare to have such a tower in Bangladesh. There is no Big Ben in Bangladesh but it has Ali Amjad Khan’s clock tower beside the Kean Bridge making it an additional attraction for tourists. This tower clock is situated on the northern bank of the Surma River at Chandnighat, down left to another pride the Kean Bridge. At far sight, one can easily presume it as a church, because of its structure. The clock is now active after a long time interval. District Council of Sylhet maintains and provides mechanical support, these days. The structure of this tower was badly damaged by the impact of explosives in the war of independence in 1971. The adjacent Kean Bridge was damaged due to the tactics in the war, and the move had its toll heavily on the clock tower.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 13:04:49 +0000
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