Overview

• Bangladesh Bank released the new 20-taka note June 1 featuring the Kantajew Temple on its obverse and the Paharpur Buddhist Monastery on its reverse
• This alteration marks the first change to the 20-taka note since 2012 and removes Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s portrait to move away from his legacy under the interim government
• Kantajew Temple, an 18th-century terracotta monument, was targeted in a 2015 New Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh attack and became the focus of a mosque construction dispute in 2024
• The Paharpur site, known as Somapura Mahavihara, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 and is one of Bangladesh’s most significant Buddhist landmarks
• Other denominations in the new currency series feature Islamic sites such as Shait-Gumbuz Masjid on the 100-taka note and Baitul Mukarram Mosque on the 10-taka note