One after another, worshippers were drawn into the enormous mosque

Mosque in Dhaka called Baitul Mukarram — Baitul Mukarram

With its astonishing number of mosques, Dhaka is often called “the city of mosques.” In a country famous for its extreme population density, where the overwhelming majority of people are Muslim, mosques function quite literally as vessels for faith, fitted into every available gap of the city. On street corners, at the end of back alleys, and above the roofs if you lift your eyes just a little, minarets rise everywhere. The concrete structure in the photograph is one of these countless mosques: Baitul Mukarram, among the largest in Dhaka. What makes it even more striking is that it is operated directly by the Bangladeshi government, a fact that feels slightly puzzling to someone raised with Japanese sensibilities.

For those accustomed to Japan or Western societies, where the separation of religion and state has become more or less a given since World War II and shrines like Yasukuni Shrine were placed outside government control, the idea of a state-run religious facility can feel unsettling. Yet in a society where nearly everyone shares the same faith, such an arrangement may simply be seen as an extension of public administration, another kind of civic infrastructure. If a city hall can manage a sports complex, perhaps a government managing a mosque is not so fundamentally different. Of course, the mindset of those who enter the building is worlds apart.

This massive mosque is said to accommodate up to forty thousand worshippers, placing it among the largest in the world. Standing on a pedestrian bridge and looking down at the entrance, it quickly becomes clear that this is no exaggeration. As the time for prayer approaches, people begin to gather, forming a quiet but steady current that flows inward. There is no rush, no disorder, just a collective movement guided by habit and belief, as the city briefly rearranges itself around faith.

Baitul Mukarram on Google Map

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