Like previous years, nobody carrying bags, sharp weapons or flammable objects would be allowed to enter the venues of Holy Ashura to be celebrated on Friday, police said yesterday.

It will be a rare person who can claim immunity to the pains and pleasures that poetry can bring, be that in the form of lyrics or poems, sung or orated. Words are what we as people can use to express ourselves, in sadness, in love, and in mourning.

Muslim clerics criticise Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan over comments he made about the practice of animal sacrifice in Islam.

At least one person was killed and about 87 others were injured in homemade bomb explosions in front of Hossaini Dalan in old Dhaka early hours today.

Abul Hasnat, an aristocrat, was a generous host. For example, when he invited Ahmed Hasan Dani - historian and curator at Dhaka Museum (now Bangladesh National Museum) - he treated him with a lavish meal extravagant enough to match those of the culinary antiquities of the Nawabs of Dhaka.

Imambara (a.k.a. imambargah, hussainia or ashurkhana) basically means 'house of imam', referring to the imams of Islam who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of our religion. Essentially, an imambara is a house of mourning for those imams.