Save the Heritages of Bangladesh conducted a 'Heritage Tour' to create awareness about preserving the heritage of various places in the country, including Old Dhaka. The organization conducted its 100th heritage tour in Farashganj, Sutrapur and Dholaikhal areas of Old Dhaka from Saturday morning to noon.
Their programme began with a cake cutting ceremony at Lalkuthi (North Brook Hall) in the morning. After that, more than 150 members from Dhaka and outside participated in the march with banners and horse-drawn carriages.
Later, the members visited the Shiva Temple, Ruplal House, Mangalalay, Basant Babu's house, Bora Babu's house, Bibika Rowja, Bihari Lal Jiu Temple, Sutrapur Zamindar's house, Jalsaghar, Murapara Zamindar's Dhaka house, Rishikesh Babu's house and Rokanpur Kazibari.
Arifur Rahman, a resident of Feni district, who came to visit the heritages of old Dhaka, told the Daily Observer, "I used to wander around alone. But when we come together, we can see the interior, that's why I have come to join the Haritage Tour. Coming here, I can learn about history and heritage".
Mukim Hossain, a resident of Faridpur, while talking to this correspondent said, "I came to see the secrets of the old buildings. The structures are not seen in new buildings now. I like to think about how they were built, how they have survived. I'm more interested in heritage. I didn't want to miss this joy of meeting everyone from the group again."
Save the Heritages of Bangladesh's Director Sajjadur Rashid said that this tour is organized to inform people about the country's heritage. He said, "We can destroy it today if we want, but can we bring back something from 100 years ago if we want? If we destroy our roots, how will the future generations know? We want to give this message - protect your heritage, protect your roots."
Sajjadur Rashid added, "Our organization can create awareness, provide ideas or information. However, we do not have the capacity to protect them, so the government needs to take action."
In addition to creating awareness among the public, Save the Heritages of Bangladesh finds lost heritage and provides that information to the Department of Archaeology.
The Face book organization started heritage tours in 2014. Their first trip was to several heritage sites in the Savar and Kaliakoir areas.
