The Sixty Dome Mosque (), is a historical

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, located in Bagerhat, in the Khulna Division of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. It is a part of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. It is the largest mosque in Bangladesh from the

Bengal Sultanate The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

period (13521576). It was built by Khan Jahan Ali, the governor of the

Sundarbans Sundarbans (; pronounced ) is a mangrove forest area in the Ganges Delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal ...

. It has been described as "one of the most impressive Muslim monuments in the whole of

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

." It situated is approximately from the main town of Bagerhat; and nearly from

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. Despite its nomenclature, the mosque has 81 domes that are supported by sixty columns.

History

In the middle of the 15th century, a Muslim colony was founded in the mangrove forest of the Sundarbans, near the coast in the Bagerhat District by a saint-General, named Khan Jahan Ali. He preached in an affluent city during the reign of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah, then known as 'Khalifatabad'. Khan Jahan adorned this city with more than a dozen mosques, the ruins of which are focused around the most imposing and largest multi-domed mosques in Bangladesh, known as the Shait-Gumbuz Masjid . The construction of the mosque began in 1442 and was completed in 1459. The mosque was used for prayers as well as a madrasha and assembly hall.

Architecture

The Sixty Dome Mosque features unusually thick, tapered brick walls in the Tughlaq style and a hut-shaped roofline that anticipates later styles. Its oblong plan measures by externally, and by internally. There are 77 low domes arranged in seven rows of eleven, with an additional dome on each corner, bringing the total to 81 domes. There are four towers, two of four towers were used for the call to prayer ( azaan). The interior is divided into many

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s and bays by slender columns, which culminate in numerous

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

es that support the roof. The mosque has 77 squat domes with seven four-sided pitched Bengali domes in the middle row. The vast prayer hall, although provided with 11 arched doorways on east and seven each on north and south for ventilation and light, presents a dark and somber appearance inside. It is divided into seven longitudinal aisles and 11 deep bays by a forest of 60 slender stone columns, from which springs rows of endless arches, supporting the domes, each thick, slightly tapering walls and hollow and round, almost detached corner towers, resembling the bastions of fortress, each capped by small rounded

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

s, recall the Tughlaq architecture of Delhi. The western wall features eleven '' mihrabs'' on the interior where ten are blind and the central one is projected on the exterior. The mosque represents wonderful archeological beauty which was the signature in the 15th century.

Sixty domes or sixty columns

The mosque is locally known in Bengali as the 'Shat Gombuj Masjid', which means "Sixty Domed Mosque". However, there are 77 domes over the main hall and exactly 60 stone pillars. It is possible that the mosque was originally referred to as the "Sixty Pillared Mosque"" where, in , later got corrupted in .

Gallery

File:ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ 06.jpg, Side view of the mosque in 2007 File:60 Dome Mosque, Bagerhat.jpg, Southeastern view File:Side view of Shat Gombuj Masjid.jpg, Side view File:Sixty Dome Mosque 0006.jpg, Main entrance of the mosque File:ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ 04.jpg, Main cornered pillars File:Sixty Dome Mosque-18.jpg, Exterior of the mosque File:ষাটগুম্বজ মসজিদের ভিতরের পিলার.jpg, Inside of mosque File:ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ (গম্বুজ).jpg, Dome exterior of the mosque File:Shat Gombuj Mosque 0008.JPG, Dome interior of the mosque File:ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদের মেহরাব ১.jpg, Mosque arches File:ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদঃ মুলদ্বার।.jpg, Mosque arches, exterior File:Sixty Dome Mosque, 8 June 2009 (16590670043).jpg, Mihrabs of the mosque File:ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ ভেতরের দৃশ্য.jpg, Inside pillars File:DG DVD 3-2007 BAGHER HAT A MALEK BABUL 43.jpg, Interior view in 2007 File:DG 75 - 09 SAT GAMBUS MOSQUE BAGERHAT IMG 0234.jpg, Interior ceiling File:Sixty Dome Mosque in 2022.32.jpg, Back entrance of the mosque File:A mehrab of sixty dome mosque.jpg, Mihrab arch of the mosque File:গৌরবময় ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ! 11.jpg, Outer wall of the mosque

References

External links