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{{Short description|Overview of architecture in the Bengal region of South Asia|}}
The '''architecture of Bengal''', which comprises the modern country of [[Bangladesh]] and the [[States and union territories of India|Indian state]]s of [[West Bengal]] and [[Assam]]'s [[Karimganj district]], has a long and rich history, blending indigenous elements from the [[Indian subcontinent]], with influences from different parts of the world. Bengali architecture includes ancient urban architecture, religious architecture, rural [[vernacular architecture]], colonial [[townhouse]]s and [[country house]]s and modern urban styles. The [[bungalow]] style is a notable architectural export of Bengal. The corner towers of Bengali religious buildings were replicated in medieval Southeast Asia. [[Bengal roofs|Bengali curved roofs]], suitable for the very heavy rains, were adopted into a distinct local style of [[Indo-Islamic architecture]], and used decoratively elsewhere in north India in [[Mughal architecture]].

Bengal is not rich in good stone for building, and traditional Bengali architecture mostly uses brick and wood, often reflecting the styles of the wood, bamboo and thatch styles of local vernacular architecture for houses. Decorative carved or moulded plaques of terracotta (the same material as the brick) are a special feature. The brick is extremely durable and disused ancient buildings were often used as a convenient source of materials by local people, often being stripped to their foundations over the centuries[[File:Ramchandra Temple of Guptipara, Hooghly, WB.jpg|thumb|Ramachandra Temple, Guptipara]]
==Antiquity and Buddhism==
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2021}}
[[File:Paharpur Buddhist Bihar.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the central Buddhist [[stupa]] of the [[Somapura Mahavihara|Grand Vihara of Somapura]] in modern Bangladesh, a Pala royal project of around 800.]]
[[Urbanization]] is recorded in the region since the first millennium BCE. This was part of the second wave of [[urban civilization]] in the Indian subcontinent, following the decline of the [[Indus Valley civilization]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} Ancient Bengal was part of a network of urban and trading hubs stretching to [[Ancient Persia]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} The archaeological sites of [[Mahasthangarh]], Paharpur, [[Wari-Bateshwar ruins]], [[Chandraketugarh]] and [[Mainamati]] provide evidence of a highly organized urban civilization in the region. [[Terracotta]] became a hallmark of Bengali construction, as the region lacked stone reserves. Bricks were produced with the clay of the [[Bengal delta]].<ref>Hasan, 34-35</ref>

Ancient Bengali architecture reached its pinnacle during the [[Pala Empire]] (750–1120); this was Bengali-based and the last Buddhist imperial power in the Indian subcontinent. Most patronage was of Buddhist [[vihara]]s, temples and [[stupa]]s. Pala architecture influenced Tibetan and Southeast Asian architecture {{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}. The most famous monument built by the Pala emperors was the [[Somapura Mahavihara|Grand Vihara of Somapura]], now a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. Historians believe Somapura was a model for the architects of [[Angkor Wat]] in Cambodia.<ref name="Bernier1997">{{cite book |author=Ronald M. Bernier |year=1997 |title=Himalayan Architecture |url=https://archive.org/details/himalayanarchite00bern |url-access=registration |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/himalayanarchite00bern/page/22 22] |isbn=978-0-8386-3602-2}}</ref>

==Medieval and early modern periods==
===Hindu and Jain===
[[File:Finest artwork and terracotta of Kantanagar temple 05.jpg|thumb|[[Terracotta]] [[relief]] at [[Kantanagar Temple]]]]
Bengal was one of the [[Decline of Buddhism in India|last strongholds of Indian Buddhism]] in the medieval period, and Hindu temples before the Muslim conquest (starting in 1204) were relatively small. Most of the Hindu temples were built in [[Gupta dynasty|Gupta]] era, [[Shashanka]], [[Pala Empire|Pala]] and [[Sena dynasty]] who ruled since the 5th century until the conquest. However, most of the temples are in ruins and relatively small. The [[Sena dynasty]] built the relatively modest [[Dhakeshwari Temple]] in [[Dhaka]], although this has been greatly rebuilt, which is the national temple of Bangladesh now. The stone temple at Garui in Bardhaman district of West Bengal, was built in the 14th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ASI, Kolkata Circle |url=http://www.asikolkata.in/barddhaman.aspx#Stone |access-date=2023-02-04 |archive-date=2023-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204045425/http://www.asikolkata.in/barddhaman.aspx#Stone |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Jor-Bangla Temple.jpg|thumb|[[Jor Bangla Temple]], [[Bishnupur, Bankura|Bishnupur]] with a curved Do-chala style roof]]

The term ''[[deula]]'', ''deul'' or ''deoul'' is used for a style of [[Jain]] and [[Hindu temple architecture]] of Bengal, where the temple lacks the usual [[mandapa]] beside the main shrine, and the main unit consists only of the shrine and a ''[[deul]]'' above it. The type arose between the 6th and 10th centuries, and most examples are now ruins; it was revived in the 16th to 19th century.<ref name="Amit">{{citation|url=https://www.aishee.org/bengal-temple-architecture|title=Bengal Temple Architecture|author=Amit Guha |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607154233/https://www.aishee.org/bengal-temple-architecture |archive-date=2023-06-07}}</ref> The later representatives of this style were generally smaller and included features influenced by Islamic architecture.<ref name="Amit"/>
[[File:Rasmancha, Bishnupur.JPG|thumb|Hindu ritual platform, the [[Rasmancha, Bishnupur]], c. 1600]]

Most temples surviving in reasonable condition date from about the 17th century onwards, after temple building revived; it had stopped after the Muslim conquest in the 13th century.<ref name="Michell, 156">Michell, 156</ref> The roofing style of [[Bengal temple architecture|Bengali Hindu temple architecture]] is unique and closely related to the paddy roofed traditional building style of rural Bengal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kamat.com/kalranga/wb/wbtemps.htm |title=Temples of West Bengal |website=Kamat's Potpourri}}</ref> The "extensive improvisation within a local architectural idiom"<ref name="Michell, 156"/> which the temples exhibit is often ascribed to a local shortage of expert [[Brahmin]] priests to provide the rather rigid guidance as to correct forms that governed temple architecture elsewhere. In the same way, the terracotta reliefs often depict secular subjects in a very lively fashion.

Roofing styles include the ''jor-bangla'', ''do-chala'', ''char-chala'', ''at-chala'', and ''ek-ratna''. The ''do-chala'' type has only two hanging roof tips on each side of a roof divided in the middle by a ridge-line; in the rare ''char-chala'' type, the two roof halves are fused into one unit and have a dome-like shape; the double-storey ''at-chala'' type has eight roof corners.<ref name="banglapedia">{{cite web
|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Architecture
|title=Architecture
|publisher=Banglapedia
|access-date=6 September 2009
|archive-date=16 November 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116231638/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Architecture
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="Amit"/>

Many of these temples are covered on the outer walls with [[terracotta]] (carved brick) [[relief]]s. [[Bishnupur, Bankura|Bishnupur]] in [[West Bengal]] has a remarkable set of 16th and 17th - century temples with a variety of roof styles built by the [[Mallabhum kingdom|Malla dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Biswas |first1=S. S. |title=Bishnupur |date=1992 |publisher=Director General, Archaeological Survey of India |pages=9, 10 |edition=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MypxFqTmRsgC |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bishnupur Terracotta Temples, Crafts & Culture Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bishnupur |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=Samuel |title=From Praśasti to Political Culture: The Nadia Raj and Malla Dynasty in Seventeenth-Century Bengal |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |date=2014 |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=397–418 |doi=10.1017/S002191181300243X |jstor=43553294 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43553294 |issn=0021-9118|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In larger, and later, temples, small towers rise up from the centre or corners of the curving roof. These are straight-sided, often with conical roofs. They have little resemblance to a typical north Indian [[shikara]] temple tower. The [[pancharatna (architecture)|pancharatna]] ("five towers") and [[Navaratna (architecture)|navaratna]] ("nine towers") styles are varieties of this type.<ref name="Amit"/>

The temple structures contain gabled roofs which are colloquially called the chala, For example, a gabled roof with an eight sided pyramid structured roof will be called "ath chala" or literally the eight faces of the roof. And frequently there is more than one tower in the temple building. These are built of laterite and brick bringing them at the mercy of severe weather conditions of southern Bengal. [[Dakshineswar Kali Temple]] is a nine-spired temple <ref>{{Cite web |title=Dakshineswar |url=https://wbtourism.gov.in/destination/details/dakshineswar}}</ref> while the additional small temples of [[Shiva]] along the river bank are example of southern Bengal roof style though in much smaller dimension.
<gallery mode="nolines" widths="240" heights="240">
File:SUN TEMPLE (Around 11th Century AD).jpg|A deul Jain temple
File:Puthia Mandirs10.JPG|A Pancharatna temple
File:Classification of Bengal Temple Architecture 12.jpg|Classification of Bengal Temple Architecture
</gallery>

===Islamic===
[[File:Choto Sona Mosque (side view).jpg|thumb|[[Choto Sona Mosque]] (around 1500)]]
[[Indo-Islamic architecture]] in the Bengali architecture can be seen from the 13th century, but before the Mughals has usually strongly reflected local traditions. The oldest surviving [[mosque]] was built during the [[Delhi Sultanate]]. The mosque architecture of the independent [[Bengal Sultanate]] period (14th, 15 and 16th centuries) represents the most important element of the Islamic architecture of Bengal. This distinctive regional style drew its inspiration from the indigenous vernacular architecture of Bengal, including curved chala roofs, corner towers and complex floral carvings. Sultanate-era mosques featured multiple [[dome]]s or a single dome, richly designed [[mihrab]]s and [[minbar]]s and an absence of [[minarets]]. While clay bricks and terracotta were the most widely used materials, stone was used from mines in the [[Rarh region]]. The Sultanate style also includes gateways and bridges. The style is widely scattered across the region.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Perween Hasan |author2=Oleg Grabar |year=2007 |title=Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uunyz4qFZwEC |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-84511-381-0}}</ref>

[[Mughal Bengal]] saw the spread of [[Mughal architecture]] in the region, including [[fort]]s, [[haveli]]s, [[Mughal garden|gardens]], [[caravanserai]]s, [[Turkish bath|hammams]] and [[fountain]]s. Mughal Bengali mosques also developed a distinct provincial style. [[Dhaka]] and [[Murshidabad]] were the hubs of Mughal architecture. The Mughals copied the do-chala roof tradition in North India.<ref name="Petersen2002">{{cite book |author=Andrew Petersen |year=2002 |title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9A-EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |publisher=Routledge |page=34 |isbn=978-1-134-61365-6}}</ref>

====Bengal Sultanate====
[[File:ADINA MOSQUE.jpg|thumb|Interior of the [[hypostyle]] hall of the [[Adina Mosque]]]]
The [[Bengal Sultanate]] (1352–1576) normally used brick as the primary construction material, as pre-Islamic buildings had done.<ref name="ReferenceA">Banglapedia</ref> Stone had to be imported to most of [[Bengal]], whereas clay for bricks is plentiful. But stone was used for columns and prominent details, often re-used from Hindu or Buddhist temples.<ref>Hasan, 34-35</ref> The early 15th century [[Eklakhi Mausoleum]] at [[Pandua, Malda]] or Adina, is often taken to be the earliest surviving square single-domed Islamic building in Bengal, the standard form of smaller mosques and mausoleums. But there is a small mosque at Molla Simla, [[Hooghly district]], that is probably from 1375, earlier than the mausoleum.<ref>Hasan, 36-39</ref> The Eklakhi Mausoleum is large and has several features that were to become common in the Bengal style, including a slightly curved [[cornice]], large round decorative [[buttress]]es and decoration in carved [[terracotta]] brick.<ref>Hasan, 36-37; Harle, 428</ref>

These features are also seen in the [[Choto Sona Mosque]] (around 1500), which is in stone, unusually for Bengal, but shares the style and mixes domes and a curving "paddy" roof based on village house roofs made of vegetable thatch. Such roofs feature even more strongly in later [[Bengal temple architecture|Bengal Hindu temple architecture]], with types such as the [[do-chala]], [[Jor-bangla Style]], and [[char-chala]].<ref>Hasan, 23-25</ref> For larger mosques, Bengali architects multiplied the numbers of domes, with a nine-domed formula (three rows of three) being one option, surviving in four examples, all 15th or 16th century and now in Bangladesh,<ref>Hasan, 41-44</ref> although there were others with larger numbers of domes.<ref>Hasan, 44-49</ref>
[[File:Asiatic Society Bangladesh.jpg|thumb|A 17th century [[haveli]] in [[Old Dhaka]]]]

Buildings in the style are the [[Nine Dome Mosque]] and the [[Sixty Dome Mosque]] (completed 1459) and several other buildings in the [[Mosque City of Bagerhat]], an abandoned city in Bangladesh now featured as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]. These show other distinctive features, such as a multiplicity of doors and ''mihrab''s; the Sixty Dome Mosque has 26 doors (11 at the front, 7 on each side, and one in the rear). These increased the light and ventilation. Further mosques include the [[Baro Shona Masjid]]; the [[Pathrail Mosque]], the [[Bagha Mosque]], the [[Darasbari Mosque]], and the [[Kusumba Mosque]]. Single-domed mosques include the [[Singar Mosque]], and the [[Shankarpasha Shahi Masjid]].

Both capitals of the Bengal Sultanate, first [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua or Adina]], then from 1450 [[Gauḍa (city)|Gauda or Gaur]], started to be abandoned soon after the conquest of the sultanate by the Mughals in 1576, leaving many grand buildings, mostly religious. The materials from secular buildings were recycled by builders in later periods.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> While minarets are conspicuously absent in most mosques, the [[Firoz Minar]] was built in Gauda to commemorate Bengali military victories.

The ruined [[Adina Mosque]] (1374–75) is very large, which is unusual in Bengal, with a [[barrel vault]]ed central hall flanked by hypostyle areas. It is said to be the largest mosque in the sub-continent, and modeled after the [[Taq Kasra|Ayvan-e Kasra]] of Ctesiphon, Iraq, as well as the [[Umayyad Mosque]] of Damascus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal#pt1|title=BENGAL – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org|access-date=2019-07-15|archive-date=2018-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103102347/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal#pt1|url-status=live}}</ref> The heavy rainfall in Bengal necessitated large roofed spaces, and the nine-domed mosque, which allowed a large area to be covered, was more popular there than anywhere else.<ref>Hasan, 35-36, 39</ref> After the Islamic consolidation of Bengal was complete, some local features continued, especially in smaller buildings, but the Mughals used their usual style in imperial commissions.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Faridpur PatrailMoshjid MG 2977.jpg|A multi-domed Sultanate era mosque
File:Pulpit of Bagha Mosque.jpg|A Bengali [[mihrab]]
File:Naulakha Pavilion in Lahore Fort.jpg|The [[Naulakha Pavilion]] at the [[Lahore Fort]] in [[Pakistan]] displays the distinct Bengali [[Do-chala]] style roof.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dani |first1=A. H. |editor1-last=Adle |editor1-first=Chahryar |editor2-last=Habib |editor2-first=Irfan |editor3-last=Baipakov |editor3-first=Karl M. |chapter=The Architecture of the Mughal Empire (North-Western Regions) |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000130205?posInSet=4&queryId=a6dad7c3-cad4-47e1-a5ef-49a1cd6d31f9 |year=2003 |volume=V |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103876-1 |page=523 |archive-date=2024-06-27 |access-date=2024-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627185128/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000130205?posInSet=4&queryId=a6dad7c3-cad4-47e1-a5ef-49a1cd6d31f9 |url-status=live }}</ref>
File:Model of Bara Katra.png|3D model of a reconstructed [[Bara Katra]] (Great [[Caravanserai]] of Dhaka) from the Mughal era
File:Katra Mosque from inside.jpg|Mughal era domes in Murshidabad
File:Lukochuri Darwaja.jpg|A Sultanate era gateway
File:Firoz Minar at Gaur.jpg|A Sultanate era standalone minaret
File:Dakhil Darwaja alias Salami Darwaja at Gaur 16.jpg|A Sultanate era arch
File:Chapai ChotoSonaMashjid MG 5054.jpg|A Sultanate era stone mosque
File:Zafar Khan Ghazi Masjid - Tribeni - Hooghly - 2013-05-19 7697.JPG|An early Sultanate era mosque and tomb
File:Malda ~ Adina Mosque 5.JPG|The Sultanate era [[Adina Mosque]]
File:Inside the Qutab Shahi Masjid.jpg|Interior of a Sultanate era imperial mosque
File:The Tomb of Fateh Khan.jpg|A Sultanate era mausoleum
File:Baraduari Mosque alias Barasona Mosque at Gaur 03.jpg|A Sultanate era stone mosque
File:Panam Bridge, Sonargaon (117).jpg|A Mughal era bridge in [[Sonargaon]]
File:Lalbagh Fort, south entrance, south view Dhaka 1875.jpg|South-East Gate of Lalbagh Fort in 1875
File:Sixty Dome Mosque at Bagerhat (4).jpg|Sixty Dome Mosque at Bagerhat
</gallery>

==British Colonial period==
[[File:Sonargaon (60).JPG|thumb|The facade of a courtyard in a 19th-century Bengali townhouse.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jul/02/calcutta-architecture-heritage-destruction-city-campaign-amit-chaudhuri|title=Calcutta's architecture is unique. Its destruction is a disaster for the city|last=Chaudhuri|first=Amit|date=2015-07-02|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-06-23|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>]]
[[File:Curzon Hall Panorama.jpg|thumb|[[Curzon Hall]] at [[University of Dhaka]]]]
The period of [[British India|British rule]] saw wealthy Bengali families, owners of [[zamindar]] estates and wealthy traders, employing European architects to design houses and palaces. The [[Indo-Saracenic]] style was strongly prevalent in the region, but versions of European [[Neo-Classical architecture]] were also found, especially in or near trading cities. While most rural estates featured an elegant [[country house]], the cities of [[Calcutta]], [[Dacca]], [[Sonargaon|Panam]] and [[Chittagong]] had widespread 19th and early 20th century urban architecture, comparable to London, [[Sydney]] or other cities of the [[British Empire]]. [[Art deco]] influences began in Calcutta in the 1930s.

=== Neoclassical ===
[[File:Ahsan Manzil-Front View.jpg|thumb|ahsan manzil dhaka]]

=== European influence on architecture. ===
<gallery>
File:Victoria Memorial Kolkata at night.jpg|[[Victoria Memorial, Kolkata|Victoria Memorial]] is a famous example is Indo-sarasenic architecture.
File:High Court Kolkata.jpg|[[Calcutta High Court]], [[Gothic architecture|Gothic style]]
File:Marble-palace.jpg|[[Marble Palace (Kolkata)|Marble Palace, Kolkata]]
File:The indian museum kolkata.jpg|[[Indian Museum, Kolkata|Indian Museum]], the oldest Museum in subcontinent, [[Neoclassicism]].
File:Hazarduari Palace, Murshidabad illuminated at night.jpg|[[Hazarduari Palace]], Murshidabad, Palladian style
File:Metropolitan Building, Kolkata.jpg|[[Metropolitan Building (Kolkata)|Metropolitan Building]], Kolkata
File:Metcalfe Hall 1, Kolkata.jpg|[[Metcalfe Hall]], Kolkata
File:Supreme Court 100.jpg|Dhaka high court
File:Writers' Building, Calcutta (8717526010).jpg|[[Writers' Building]], Kolkata, [[Victorian architecture|Victorian style]]
File:Dead Letter.jpg|Telegraph Check Office, Kolkata, [[Italianate architecture|Italianate style]].
File:OberoiGrandHotelKolkata gobeirne.jpg|[[Grand Hotel (Kolkata)|Oberoi Grand Hotel]], Kolkata
File:PrincepGhat.jpg|[[Prinsep Ghat|Princep Ghat]]
File:Town Hall1.jpg|[[Kolkata Town Hall|Town Hall]], Kolkata, [[Doric order|Doric style]]
</gallery>
Indo-Saracenic architecture can be seen in the [[Ahsan Manzil]] and [[Curzon Hall]] in Dhaka, [[Chittagong Court Building]] in Chittagong, and [[Hazarduari Palace]] in Murshidabad. The [[Victoria Memorial, Kolkata|Victoria Memorial]] in Kolkata, designed by [[Vincent Esch]] also has Indo-Saracenic features, possibly inspired from the Taj Mahal.

===Bungalows===
[[File:Momin Mosque after restoration.jpg|thumb|left|A wooden bungalow which serves as [[Momin Mosque]] since 1920]]
The origin of the [[bungalow]] has its roots in the vernacular architecture of Bengal.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/education_pedagogy/700411-bungalow.html |title=bungalow > common native dwelling in the Indian province of Bengal |access-date=2013-12-30 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924082744/http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/education_pedagogy/700411-bungalow.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The term ''baṅgalo'', meaning "Bengali" and used [[Ellipsis (linguistics)|elliptically]] for a "house in the Bengal style".<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', "bungalow"; [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=bungalow&searchmode=none Online Etymology Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406071037/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=bungalow&searchmode=none |date=2016-04-06 }}</ref> Such houses were traditionally small, only one storey and detached, and had a wide [[veranda]] were adapted by the British, who used them as houses for colonial administrators in summer retreats in the Himalayas and in compounds outside Indian cities.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080308171939/http://www.bartleby.com/61/12/B0551200.html Bartleby.com]</ref>
The Bungalow style houses are still very popular in the rural Bengal. In the rural areas of Bangladesh, it is often called “Bangla Ghar” (Bengali Style House). The main construction material used in modern time is corrugated steel sheets. Previously they had been constructed from wood, bamboo and a kind of straw called “Khar”. Khar was used in the roof of the Bungalow house and kept the house cold during hot summer days. Another roofing material for Bungalow houses has been red clay tiles.

=== Art Deco ===
Art deco, which originated after the first World war, became prevalent all over India. Art deco is seen in the bungalows of Kolkata as well, which are being destroyed and replaced by high-rise buildings.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/saving-kolkatas-heritage-buildings/article7360740.ece|title=The old Calcutta chromosomes|last1=Singh|first1=Shiv Sahay|date=2015-06-27|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-06-23|last2=Bagchi|first2=Suvojit|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=2018-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610200530/http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/saving-kolkatas-heritage-buildings/article7360740.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33902003|title=The fight to save Kolkata's heritage homes|last=Guha|first=Divya|date=2015-08-25|work=BBC|access-date=2019-06-23|language=en-GB}}</ref> Art Deco influences continued in Chittagong during the 1950s.

==Modernist and contemporary styles==
{{Bengalis}}*
<gallery>
File:Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban Close view.jpg|A closer view of the [[Parliament of Bangladesh]]
File:বায়তুর রউফ মসজিদ.jpg|[[Baitur Rauf Mosque]], [[Dhaka]]
File:Nazrul Tirtha1.JPG|[[Nazrul Tirtha|Nazrul Tirtha, Kolkata]]
File:Meghna Residence.jpg|Rooftop garden of Meghna Residence
File:South Water Garden.jpg|South Water Garden, Dhaka
File:Citibank dhaka.jpg|A Rubik's cube style building in Dhaka
File:IDB Bhaban.jpg|IDB Bhaban, Dhaka
File:Kamal Ataturk Avenue 2.jpg|Skyscrapers of Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Dhaka
</gallery>
[[East Pakistan]] was the center of the Bengali modernist movement started by [[Muzharul Islam]]. Many renowned global architects worked in the region during the 1960s, including [[Louis Kahn]], [[Richard Neutra]], [[Stanley Tigerman]], [[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]], [[Robert Boughey]] and [[Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis|Konstantinos Doxiadis]]. Louis Kahn designed the [[Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban]], the preeminent symbol of modern Bangladeshi architecture. The [[cityscape]]s of modern Bengali cities are dominated by midsized skyscrapers and often called concrete jungles. Architecture services form a significant part of urban economies in the region, with acclaimed architects such as [[Rafiq Azam]].

In 2015, [[Marina Tabassum]] and [[Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury]] were declared winners of the [[Aga Khan Award for Architecture]] for their mosque and community center designs respectively, which were inspired by the region's ancient heritage.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.dhakatribune.com/feature/2016/10/03/2-bangladeshi-projects-among-aga-khan-award-for-architecture-winners/|title = 2 Bangladeshi projects among Aga Khan Award for Architecture winners|date = 3 October 2016|access-date = 26 February 2017|archive-date = 19 June 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170619023318/http://www.dhakatribune.com/feature/2016/10/03/2-bangladeshi-projects-among-aga-khan-award-for-architecture-winners/|url-status = live}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Architecture of Bangladesh]]
* [[Architecture of Dhaka]]
* [[Art Deco in Kolkata]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300062176}}
*Hasan, Perween, ''Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh'', 2007, I.B.Tauris, {{ISBN|1845113810}}, 9781845113810, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Uunyz4qFZwEC&pg=PA32 google books]
*Michell, George, (1977) ''The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to its Meaning and Forms'', 1977, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0-226-53230-1}}

==Further reading==
*Michell, George (Ed.), ''Brick Temples of Bengal - From the Archives of David McCutchion'', Princeton University press, New Jersey, 1983
*Becker-Ritterspach, Raimund O.A., ''Ratna style Temples with an Ambulatory - Selected temple concepts in Bengal and the Kathmandu Valley'', Himal Books, Kathmandu, 2016, {{ISBN|978 9937 597 29 6}}
*{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Muhammad Hafizullah |title=Terracotta Ornamentation in Muslim Architecture of Bengal |date=1988 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Terracotta_Ornamentation_in_Muslim_Archi/AaxWAAAAMAAJ |access-date=17 September 2025 |ref=Khan |language=en}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Sen Gupta |first1=Sanjay |title=Terracotta-ornamentation on the Religious-Architectures of Bengal: Gradual Deconstruction of Cultural-units through the Expanse of Lokāyata |journal=Journal of Bengal Art |date=17 September 2025 |volume=25 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339527677 |access-date=17 September 2025}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Guha |first1=Sudeshna |last2=Bandyopadhyay |first2=Dr. Abir |title=Terracotta Temples of Bengal: A Culmination of Pre-existing Architectural Styles |journal=The Chitrolekha Journal on Art and Design |volume=1 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320338416_Terracotta_Temples_of_Bengal_A_Culmination_of_Pre-existing_Architectural_Styles |access-date=18 September 2025}}

{{Architecture of Bengal|state=expanded}}
{{Architecture of Bangladesh}}
{{Architecture of India}}
{{Islamic architecture}}
{{West Bengal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Architecture Of Bengal}}
[[Category:Indian architecture by state or union territory|+]]
[[Category:Architecture by region]]
[[Category:Culture of Bengal]]
[[Category:Culture of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Architecture in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Bengali architecture]]
[[Category:Bengal terracotta]]

Architecture of Bengal - Revision history

Lpsglobalschool at 03:20, 6 May 2026