Abdul Latif Ibrahim Bawani, owner of Bawani Jute Mills, proposed the national mosque in 1959. Abdulhusein M. Thariani is credited as architect, though a 1990 source gives A. H. Thariani. President Ayub Khan inaugurated the work on January 27, 1960, after a pond on the site was filled. The first prayers were held on January 25, 1963, and completion is given as 1968. A donation from Saudi Arabia financed an extension in 2008.
The article says the design keeps traditional Mughal principles with modern features, although that claim lacks a citation. The large cube is said to be modeled on the Kaaba. The building rises eight stories to 99 feet and, unusually, has no dome. Two shallow domed porticoes mark the north and south sides, and two roofless inner courtyards admit light and air. The prayer niche is rectangular, not semicircular.
It holds over 42,000 worshippers on an 8.3-acre site on a high platform in central Dhaka.
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