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Dharmasagar (pond)

Coordinates: 23°27′52″N 91°10′46″E / 23.46444°N 91.17944°E / 23.46444; 91.17944
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Dharmasagar
LocationComilla
Coordinates23°27′52″N 91°10′46″E / 23.46444°N 91.17944°E / 23.46444; 91.17944
TypeReservoirs, Dighi
Basin countriesBangladesh
Max. length375.46 m (1,231.8 ft)
Max. width237.42 m (778.9 ft)
Surface area23.18 acres (9.38 ha)[1]
Average depth3.6 m (12 ft)
Max. depth5.2 m (17 ft)
Residence timeabout 600 years
Surface elevation15 m (49 ft)
SettlementsComilla
west waterfront (2009)

Dharmasagar is a man-made water body in Comilla, Bangladesh. The pond was dug by the Tripura king Dharma Manikya I in 1458.[1][2]

Sachin Dev Burman and Kazi Nazrul Islam were here during their time in Comilla.[3] There is memorial center of Nazrul beside the pond.[4]

To facilitate the local habitat with mineral water ‘Dharmashagar’ was established, which is considered one of the earliest evidences of urban water heritage of Bangladesh. Since the establishment, this water body has been the centre of the social & economic growth of the city.[5] Cumilla, like all other major cities in Bangladesh, has been dealing with the erosion of its distinctive aspect because of fast unplanned growth, which has harmed the city's primordial urban fabric and identity. Since then, governmental and non-governmental organizations have worked to protect and conserve the Dighi environment as a distinct entity.[6]

Dharmashagar is defined as the centre of Cumilla city. From the beginning, the central recreational zones of the city were developed based on the east bank of this water body, by the time it was divided & converted into a stadium and central Eidgah. The north bank is the administrative territory of the city. The walk running beside the west bank of the Dighi, is the only open space in the city. However, private residential properties entirely block the South bank and strict public access. Unplanned development near the bank has ruined the waterfront character created a negative space behind it.[6]

Panorama of the Dharmasagar pond, taken in 2017
water view from south (2020)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Molla, Md. Tuhin. "Dharmasagar". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Dharma Sagar Dighi in Comilla". Bangladesh Travel Guide. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  3. ^ "The life of a music maker". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Translate works of Nazrul: PM". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 26 May 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  5. ^ ahmad, rafi (15 June 2021). "Morphology of urban fabric around the Dighi". sthapattya-o-nirman. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16.
  6. ^ a b Ahmad, Rafi (2021). Contemporary Approaches in Urbanism and Heritage Studies | Spatial Conservation Planning for Ecologically Critical Water Heritage: A Case Study of the Historic Dharmashagar Dighi, Cumilla, Bangladesh. Istanbul, Turkey: Cinius Yayınları Publication. pp. 199–206. ISBN 978-625-7472-38-8.