The funeral prayers of eminent artist, cultural personality, and Ekushey Padak recipient Mustafa Monwar will be held on Tuesday (June 30), before he is laid to rest at Banani Graveyard.
Following the funeral rites, his body will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar, where people from all walks of life will have the opportunity to pay their final respects.
Speaking to reporters at a private hospital in the capital on Monday, the artist’s son, Sadat Monwar, said his father’s body was taken to their Dhanmondi residence around noon after the ritual bathing (ghusl) was completed at Taqwa Mosque. Family members, friends, and admirers will be able to pay their respects there until the afternoon, after which the body will be preserved at the morgue of Square Hospital.
According to the family, the first funeral prayer will be held at 9:00am on Tuesday at the Bangladesh Television (BTV) premises.
The body will then be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar between 10:30am and 11:00am, where it will lie in state until 12:30pm to allow members of the public to pay their last respects.
It will later be taken to the Central Mosque of the University of Dhaka for a second funeral prayer.
Afterwards, the body will be kept for about 30 minutes at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Dhaka, where Monwar spent much of his professional life, allowing colleagues, students, and admirers to bid him a final farewell.
Following the completion of all official proceedings, he will be buried at Banani Graveyard later in the day.
Mustafa Monwar passed away at around 9:30am on Monday while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Dhaka. He was 90.
He had been suffering from multiple health complications, including a bacterial lung infection and pneumonia. He was admitted to the hospital on June 14 in critical condition and has been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU). Despite the best efforts of physicians, he could not be revived.
Born on September 1, 1935, in the village of Nakol in Magura, Mustafa Monwar made remarkable contributions to painting, television, puppetry, and children’s cultural development. His pioneering work earned him a distinguished place in Bangladesh’s cultural history, making him one of the country’s most celebrated cultural figures.
