This is the second part of Lubaaba Al-Azami’s blog post, Riches and Ruins: Explorations in Bangladesh’s European Heritage. You can read the first part here.

Sometimes we find that the thing we’re searching for is under our very nose.

In my previous blog I discussed my journey of sleuthing in Bangladesh in search of early European heritage. Here my journey continues, but in a different part of the country; the capital, Dhaka. The capital is home to many of the country’s leading schools, among them Holy Cross College in the Tejgaon area of the city. As one with family from Bangladesh, I have many a relative in Dhaka and several have attended this reputable school. What I wasn’t aware of for all these years is that Holy Cross School is an institution of Dhaka’s Holy Rosary Church. Built by the Portuguese in 1677, the church is the second oldest in Dhaka and the oldest currently still standing.

It would take tracking down and negotiations with Church staff to secure a visit to this beautiful church. The Fathers who welcomed me in were generous with their time, showing me around and answering my countless questions. The church complex is set in large serene grounds, set back from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets beyond its walls. It caters to the largest catholic parish in Bangladesh, serving thousands of worshippers. The complex includes among its buildings both a modern church, which can host over a thousand worshippers, as well as the historic Portuguese church that is used for selected holy events.

Figure 1 The main modern church building used for regular worship

Figure 2 Original 17th century Portuguese church

It was during this visit that some of the untied threads from my earlier visit to Portugal Bhobon in Chittagong would tie together. Unlike the Chittagong structure, this was a structure well-maintained; renovated two decades earlier in 2000 by the Portuguese embassy in Dhaka. The building in Chittagong is a dilapidated ruin. Nonetheless, the 17^th century Dhaka church was architecturally very similar in essentials to the Chittagong structure. Both buildings are rectangular in shape with doorways set every few yards along the extended walls on both sides as can be seen from the following pictures:

 Figure 3 Side view of 17th century Holy Rosary Church, Dhaka

Figure 4 Side view of Portugal Bhobon, Chittagong

Holy Rosary Church is a single storey building (with high ceilings). In Chittagong, the building is double storied with windows along the first floor and with access to the roof. Despite these discrepancies, the structures had a distinct sense of similarity and seemed to confirm, I hope, that Portugal Bhobon is indeed a heritage of early modern Portuguese settlements in Bengal.

The structure inside the Holy Rosary Church was attractive, with tall pillars holding up its roof and rows of benches set out for worshippers. A plaque adorns the wall of the threshold to commemorate the renovation of the church.

Figure 5 Interior of Holy Rosary Church, plaque commemorating renovation in 2000

The renovations were also evidently done with thought and care for the preservation of history. The floor of the old structure was set with plaques and markers of tombs. These were preserved when the flooring was replaced, and the plaques now adorn the church walls. The structure is clearly valued as an important piece of history and heritage. I keenly hope that Portugal Bhaban in Chittagong may come to earn that level of respect too.