English For Today chapter 8: World Heritage

Unit Eight

World Heritage

Learning outcomes

After we have studied this unit, we will be able to

• listen for specific information
• read and understand texts through silent reading
• ask and answer questions
• describe a place.

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Lesson 1: The Shat Gambuj Mosque

A. Look at the picture. Work in pairs. Talk about the picture and ask and answer the following questions.

Figure

Description: A photograph of a long, low building with a row of arched openings and a square tower at its left end, surrounded by trees and an open lawn.

1. What can you see in the picture?
2. Do you have a building like this in your town/village?
3. What do we call it?
4. What is it used for?

B. Read the text and complete the table given after it.

'Heritage' is what we inherit from the past, live with in the present and then pass on to our children or future generations. Our unique source of life and inspiration is our cultural and natural heritage. When we speak of 'World Heritage', it indicates places and sites that we inherited from the past and pass on to the future generation of the entire world.

The 'Shat Gambuj Mosque' in Bagerhat is such a heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Originally, the historic Mosque City was known as 'Khalifatabad'. It is situated at the outskirts of Bagerhat town, – not very far from the dense mangrove forest of the Sundarbans. Khalifatabad was a Muslim colony. It was founded by the Turkish general, a saint warrior Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15^th century. The infrastructure of the city reveals significant technical skills in many mosques as well as early Islamic monuments. Baked bricks were used for the construction of the buildings. The planning of the city was dominated by the tradition of Islamic architecture and the decorations were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture.

Khan Jahan built a network of roads, bridges, public buildings and reservoirs to make the city habitable. There were about 360 mosques in the city. Among them the most remarkable is the multi-domed Shat Gombuj Mosque. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support the roof, with 77 low height domes. The 4 towers at 4 corners have smaller domes at the top as well. The

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vast prayer hall has 11 arched doorways on the east and 7 each on the north and south for light and ventilation. It has 7 aisles running along the length of the mosque and 11 deep curves between the slender stone columns. These columns support the curving arches created by the domes. The thickness of the arches is 6 feet and have slightly narrowing hollow and round wall.

The west wall in the interior has 11 'mihrabs' (niche in mosque pointing towards Makkah). These mihrabs are decorated with stonework and terracotta. The floor of the mosque is made of brick.

Besides being used as a prayer hall, Khan Jahan used the mosque as his court too. Today, it is one of the greatest tourist attractions and one of the best architectural beauties of Bangladesh.

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C. Look at the picture of the Tara Mosque in Dhaka. Read the information and write a description of the mosque with the help of the given clues.

Location: Dhaka, Abul Khairat Road

Style: Mughal

Number of domes: 5

Decoration: different sizes of stars on dome and outside wall

Materials used for decoration: Chinaware and white cement

Interior of the mosque: mosaic floor, floral tiles on the wall

Built by: Mirza Ghulam Pir– a respectable Zamindar of Dhaka

Time: early 18^th century

Figure

Description: Front view of the Tara Mosque, showing five white domes with patterned decoration, a facade with a row of arched openings, and an open paved area in front.

Lesson 2: The Somapura Mahavihara

A. Read the text.

Paharpur is an important archaeological site situated in a village named 'Paharpur' in Naogaon district of northern Bangladesh. Naogaon is mainly plain land but in the middle of it stood a hill covered with jungle. When the jungle was cleared and the hill excavated, there emerged a lofty ruin of an ancient temple. The temple is about 24 meter high from the surrounding level. 'Pahar' means hill. Hence the name Paharpur.

The Paharpur site has been excavated and re-excavated a number of times by archaeologists. Sir Alexander Cunningham, archaeological surveyor of India, visited the place in 1879. He intended to carry out an extensive excavation but was prevented by the land owner. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with whatever excavation he was permitted to carry out. The site was declared to be protected by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1919 under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904.

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Systematic and regular excavation started jointly by the Archaeological Survey of India, and Varendra Research Society of Rajshahi and Calcutta University in 1923. They excavated the south-west corner of the monastery. Next, in 1925-26, historian and archaeologist RD Banerjee excavated the northern part of the central mound. From 1926-27 onward, excavation was carried out under the supervision of KN Dikshit.

The Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh brought the site under further excavation after independence. The operations took place in two phases. The first phase was initiated in 1981-82 and continued till 1984-1985. The second phase was started in 1988-89 and continued till 1990-91.

Pre-liberation expeditions have revealed the architecture of a vast Buddhist monastery, the Somapura Mahavihara. It is dominated by the central shrine, attracting immediate attention by its lofty height and unusual architectural design.

Somapura Mahavihara was one of the most famous Buddhist institutions for monks of ancient Bengal and Southern Asia. The excavated complex at Paharpur has been identified as Somapura Mahavihara built by the second Pala king Dharmapala (781- 821 AD). Some clay seals from the ruins bear the inscription Shri-Somapure-Shri-Dharmapaladeva-Mahavihariyarya-bhiksu-sangghasya.

Figure

Description: The excavated stepped pyramidal central temple and surrounding ruins of Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur rising above the open courtyard.

The Pala rulers were devout Buddhists and they founded a number of monasteries throughout their growing empire. Some of them became great centres of learning and their reputation quickly spread throughout Asia. Somapura Mahavihara's close relationship with the ruling dynasty implied that it shared the political ups and downs of its benefactors.

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B. Match the words with their meanings.

C. Read Text in A again and choose the correct answer.

1. Paharpur is a. a typical Bangladeshi village. b. an extraordinary village. c. a very small village. d. a village on top of a mountain.

2. After excavation, the archaeologists discovered a huge a. king's palace. b. emperor's courtyard. c. Buddhist monastery. d. Hindu temple.

3. How many phases of excavation of Paharpur have been mentioned in the text? a. four b. five c. six d. seven

4. What objects indicate that the site was built by the second Pala king? a. earthen seals b. ceramic seals c. stone seals d. iron seals

5. The word 'benefactors' in the text means a. banks. b. famous businessmen. c. people with money. d. financial supporters.

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