The National Memorial. This is where the Bangalees gather and become a unique whole. Standing before it in solemn silence, they find their true identity. This is where they rejoice and mourn, while paying homage to the gallant sons and daughters who laid down their lives during the Liberation War.

And the man whose signature work drew seas of people year after year made the final exit yesterday.

Architect Syed Mainul Hossain breathed his last at National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) at 2:30pm. He was 63.

He left behind his two daughters and a host of friends and family members and well-wishers to mourn his death.

President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia expressed deep shocks at his demise.

Mainul had been suffering from diabetes. He had a massive heart attack on Sunday morning and was taken to a hospital next to his Shantinagar residence, his cousin Zulfikar Rahman said.

Mainul was shifted to the NICVD around 11:00am.

The NICVD authorities had constituted a medical board to treat him.

"Initially, his condition had been improving and he had been communicating with us. But he started com-

plaining again since |yesterday| morning. And suddenly he suffered a cardiac arrest from which we could not revive him," Abdullah-Al-Safi Majumder, director of NICVD, told The Daily Star.

Mainul's body was taken to his house first and then to Birdem mortuary where the body will be kept till his elder daughter returns to Bangladesh tomorrow, said Mainul's another cousin Iftekhar Rahman.

The body will be taken to Buet, where he studied, tomorrow morning. Then, his coffin will be kept at the Central Shaheed Minar for people to pay homage. Mainul will be buried at Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard in Mirpur, he added.

Mainul's design for the National Memorial in Savar was selected from amongst 57 submissions in the national competition for the project's design in 1978.

Composed of seven isosceles triangular planes varying in size, the memorial's main monument, 150-feet tall, symbolises the valour and sacrifice of those who died fighting for liberation. It also symbolises the rise of Bangladesh from beneath the ground.

Mainul's friend and university roommate, Badrul Haider, an architect, remembers how Mainul came

to his place with the components of his model in his hands on the submission day.

"An open competition for the design for the national monument at Savar was announced in 1978. Mainul along with others submitted their designs. But the jury were not satisfied with the submissions first timearound," he told The Daily Star.

So, there was a second competition.

"The day before the submission, he came to my Fakirapool house with the components. And when he assembled them on a table I knew it for certain that the one of mine was nowhere near his," recalled Badrul.

He also said when they submitted the designs at the Architecture Department of PWD Bhaban the next day all other competitors were certain that no one's work would be comparable to Mainul’s.

The main structure of the National Memorial was built along with the artificial lake and other facilities in 1982. It opened for public on December 16 that year.

The seven isosceles of the memorial stand for the seven Birshreshthas (the seven war heroes recognised as the greatest of all war heroes for their extraordinary valour) and the seven

movements from 1952 till the 1971 Liberation War.

Born in Dhaka in 1951, Mainul received many awards, including the Ekushey Padak, for his architectural excellence and other works.

He enrolled in Buet in October 1969. He joined Bangladesh Consultant Ltd, an engineering firm, after completing his education in 1976.

Later, he joined Shahidullah and Associates Ltd, another engineering firm. While at this firm, he and Badrul set up a firm named Grihayonbid and worked together till early 1990s. He then decided to work independently, said Badrul.

Mainul had designed many vocational training institutions and vocational teachers training institutions.

Apart from architecture, Mainul had interest in mathematics and politics, said Badrul, adding that over the past few years he lived a secluded life at his house following his divorce.

"A friend like him is rarely found," he said with a chocked voice.

Replying to a question, Badrul said Mainul did not get the appreciation he deserved in his lifetime. "No one came to see him."