Baldah Garden's sundial: A rare timepiece of Dhaka!

Illustration: Ashif Ahmed Rudro; Photo: Ayman Anika

Baldah Garden at Wari has more than one claim to fame.  It is among those few places in the capital where there is a lot of greenery and even a pond. The garden is a popular spot for morning walks and evening hangouts. Within the compound, there is Joy House where Rabindranath Tagore once stayed.

But amidst all that, Baldah Garden -- founded in 1909, by Narendra Narayan Roy Chaudhury, landlord of the Baldah estate (according to Banglapedia) -- also has a sundial, a "shurjo ghori", as is written on it. 

A sundial, simply put, is an archaic device of telling time. Not your ordinary clock!

It is a rare sight in the modern world. The sundial in Old Dhaka's Wari sits silently, often ignored, but offering amusement for keen visitors who come across it.