Move to preserve Bayezid Bostami shrine as national heritage
Century-old Bayezid Bostami Masjid Complex. Devotees, inset, give foods to the Bayezid Kachhims (turtles) at the pond on the masjid complex. The photo was taken on Monday. Photo: Zobaer Hossain Sikder
Initiative is on to preserve Bayezid Bostami shrine as a national heritage. Bayezid Bostami shrine is a revered place of historic and tourist interest in the port city. Under the initiative the shrine pond, a safe abode for the rare species of black softshell turtles known as Bayezid Kachhim, will be preserved in its natural state and the shrine complex will be kept open on the east, said the sources. But blocking the view of Bayezid Shrine are rows of shops and business establishment along Bayezid Bostami Road on the east. To worsen the situation the shrine management committee early this year engaged a property developer to renovate the worn out shrine mosque and construct a seven-storey shopping complex, both extending to the shrine pond in the east and west, sources said. Construction also started with erection of RCC pillars from the shrine pond posing a threat to the comfortable habitat of several hundred Bayezid Kachhim alongside blocking the scenic beauty of the hilltop shrine. Bayezid Kachhims are regarded by the followers and devotees as holy creatures of the medieval Persian holy saint Hazrat Bayezid Bostami. Sultanul Arefin Hazrat Sultan Bayezid Bostami came to this port city of Chittagong some 1200 years ago and the turtles are being believed to be fairies and genies in material forms of his followers, sources said. The renovation and construction work was also squeezing the breeding centre of turtles set up by the Wildlife Conservation Department of the Department of Forest at the bottom of a hillock on the west bank of the shrine pond. Sources said amid a strong protest by the conscious people and the authorities like Wildlife Conservation Centre, Department of Forest and zoologists, the shrine management committee stopped the construction last month. The government also formed a four-member committee to prepare a design with the help of Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) for planned expansion and development of the shrine. A four-member team led by Chief Architect ASM Ismail of Architect Department under the Ministry for Housing and Public Works visited the shrine on June 10. Other members of the team are Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Zafar Alam, CDA Chief Town Planner Shahinul Islam Khan and Prof Jahangir Alam of Cuet. Architect Ismail said the shrine will be expanded and developed without disturbing the Bayezid Kachhims living in the pond. Besides, the rows of shops on east bank of the shrine pond will be removed, he said. Zafar, also president of the Shrine Management Committee, said they have decided to revise the design of renovation and development project due to protest. By this time, the shrine has also been identified as a national heritage to be preserved with priority, he added. While talking to The Daily Star Architect Ismail said the revised design has little difference with their suggestions. He said they have suggested the shrine committee not to go for any development and expansion work extending the mosque into the pond that might threaten existence of rare species of turtles living there. He said they have also asked the shrine committee for not allowing any structure (like shopping complex) up to the pond and to keep the east bank of the pond open. He said proper development and expansion can also turn the shrine into a place of a great attraction for the visitors as well as for anyone passing by the Bayezid Bostami Road. Zafar said the shrine committee has decided to keep the east side of the pond open so that visitors or passers-by can be attracted by the view of the shrine while passing by Bayezid Bostami Road. "Besides, we are taking a plan to set up a school on the shrine land for the under-privileged children," he added.
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