Savar

About Savar

Savar (Bengali: সাভার) is a city in central Bangladesh, located in the Dhaka District in the division of Dhaka. It is the closest separate city to the centre of Dhaka. It is also a part of the Greater Dhaka conurbation which forms the Dhaka megacity. About 380,000 people live here which makes this city the second most populous in Dhaka district and the 13th largest in Bangladesh.

Savar city is located at 23.85°N 90.26°E / 23.85; 90.26 in the central region of Bangladesh.

The origin of the name Savar is thought to be an evolved version of the ancient 7th–8th-century township of সর্বেশ্বর Shôrbeshshôr ("Lord of everything") or সম্ভার Shômbhar situated on the banks of the river known today as the Bangshi. Shôrbeshshôr, in turn, is said to have been established on the site of the ancient Sambagh Kingdom. Local legends as well as archaeological finds indicate a king by the name of Raja Harishchandra Pal, said to be of the Pala dynasty, ruled over Shôrbeshshôr. There is an old shloka that goes বংশাবতী-পূর্বতীরে সর্বেশ্বর নগরী, বৈসে রাজা হরিশচন্দ্র জিনি সূরপুরী Bôngshaboti-purbotire shôrbeshshôr nôgori, boishe raja Horishchôndro jini shurpuri ("On the East banks...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.