Bara Katra, a historical monument of the Mughal period, is located on the banks of the Buriganga river in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar. Chief architect Mir Abul Kasem built this structure in 1641 AD under the instructions of Shahzada Shah Suja, son of Emperor Shahjahan. Abul Qasem was called ‘Mir-e-Imarat’ at that time. Bara Katra was built for the residence of Shahzada Shah Shuja, but later it was used as a guest house.
Bara Katra has two entrances north and south. The number of large katra rooms built around a rectangular courtyard is twenty-two in total. In the middle of the east-west section, there are rows of two-story houses on both sides of the three-story gate of equal height and two turrets at the corners.
It is said that after Shahzada built this palace for Shah Shuja, he gave it to the architect Abul Qasem for conditional use due to his displeasure. The condition was that the officials in charge of the donated waqf building could not under any circumstances collect any rent or money from any person authorized to use it. Therefore, the waqf shop was given to twenty-two shopkeepers to meet the expenses of the bara Katara.
Bangladesh Archeology Department wanted to acquire the dilapidated large Katra building for conservation and renovation, but it was not possible due to the owners’ obstacles. Currently it is under the supervision of Hossainia Ashraful Uloom Madrasa. Bara Katra is open for visitors daily from 8 am to 5 pm.
How to go
From anywhere in the capital city of Dhaka, you can take a rickshaw to Old Dhaka and go to Bara Katra, which is located in Babubazar area, south of Chawkbazar. The distance between Bara Katra and Small Katra is only 183 meters.
