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Ruplal House


Coordinates: 23°42′13.1″N 90°24′49.1″E / 23.703639°N 90.413639°E / 23.703639; 90.413639

Ruplal House is a grand 19th century building or mansion in Old Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was initially owned by Dhaka's infamous Armenian landlord Aratun and later bought and erected jointly by two Hindu affluent merchant brothers named Ruplal Das and Raghunath, sons of Swarup Chandra, on the northern bank of Buriganga overlooking a riverfront promenade in the Farashganj district of old Dhaka.

Ruplal House was built on the site at a huge cost, according to the design of an architect of the Martin Company in Calcutta. Divided into two unequal blocks in slightly different styles, it is a two-storeyed edifice. It presents a Grand River front, about 9144 m long.It replicated Greek Doric column and there used to be a huge clock at the top of the building. In the earthquake of 1897. Its ground plan follows the shape of the letter 'E', with three arms extending towards the north or the city side, of which the middle arm projects about 1830 m. It accommodates a grand portico carried on a series of lofty semi-Corinthian fluted columns, and surmounted by a triangular pediment, characteristic of Renaissance architecture.

The two blocks include, in two floors, over fifty rooms of various sizes and of them the central hall on the upper floor of the more impressive western wing was an elegantly decorated dance hall with a wooden floor. On the north and south two broad verandas run the entire length of the block and are supported on either round semi-Corinthian columns or rectangular brick pillars with segmented or trefoil arches above.

Ruplal house has three distinct blocks of different architectural style; these blocks were separated in the ground floor, but related at the upper floor by arch way. Those three blocks were:


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