Baitul Mukarram National Mosque

Mosque · Dhaka, Dhaka

The national mosque of Bangladesh: Abdulhusein Thariani's great white cube at Paltan, completed in the 1960s and deliberately evoking the Kaaba in its massing, with capacity - courtyards included - running into the tens of thousands and Eid congregations that overflow the surrounding streets. It is a modernist statement as much as a shrine: clean geometry over a vast plinth whose lower levels house one of the city centre's busiest market complexes, so commerce and congregation literally share the building. Non-Muslim visitors are received outside prayer times with mosque courtesy at the national scale.

Baitul Mukarram, Paltan, Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Open through the day around the five daily prayers with visitor windows in the gaps - mid-morning and mid-afternoon longest; Friday midday, Eid days and Ramadan evenings belong wholly to congregation. Free entry. The market levels keep ordinary commercial hours. The lit cube after dark is worth an evening pass.

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