The Bishwa Ijtema or World Congregation or Global Congregation or Meeting is an annual Tablighi Jamaat Islamic movement congregation held at Tongi, Bangladesh by the river Turag. The event focuses on prayers and meditation and does not allow political discussion. The local police estimated the number of attendees of 2010 ijtema to be 5 million at the last day.
The congregation takes place at Tongi by the Turag river at an area comprising 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land (0.25 square mile). Devotees from approximately 80 countries, including the host country, Bangladesh, attend the three-day Ijtema seeking divine blessings from Allah. In recent years, over 20-25 thousands foreign delegates attend the congregation each year.
From an elaborate study, 3 types of problems are identified for this event-
1. Problems occurring at the event time
2. Problems regarding the urban issues of the field affecting the surrounding and whole city
3. Need for some permanent facilities
So, addressing these problems, the design objective was tri folded-
1. Providing a masterplan for ijtema
2. Ensuring alternative year round uses of the field throughout the year
3. Designing a tabilghi congregation center
2010
2011
Ijtema takes place at the bank of Turag river at Tongi, where the 0.8 million devotees are gathered and stay for 3 days at the field comprising 160 acres of open space unnder the shade of tents. At the ending day, the crowd becomes around 4.5-5 million which seriously affects the urban context in several issues.
Md. Shakhawat Hossain
