Visiting the Shat Gambuj Mosque, Bagerhat Khulna

Posted by FLATOUE JENNY on February 27th, 2019

Page Contents
The Shat Gambuj Mosque
History:
Style:
See:
Ghora Dighi:
Museum
How to Go:
Where to stay:
Food:
Drinks:

The Shat Gambuj Mosque

The Shat Gambuj Mosque is a  and one of the topmost tourist attraction in Bangladesh. It  is one of the largest historical mosques of the Sultanate period. The great Ulugh Khan Jahan established this mosque three miles west of the present Bagerhat town. This serene and imposing monument stands on the eastern back of an enormous sweet-water-tank. The mosque is famous for its sheer size and architectural beauty. The archaeological elegance of it enthralls the tourists even now. The simple look of this aristocratic structure with its absolute plainness but solid shape reflects the potency and simplicity of its designer. Besides using it as a prayer hall, Ulugh Khan Jahan used the mosque as his assembly hall. Beside this mosque, there is an archaeological museum where you can find different archaeological and historical materials of that time.

History:

The construction of the Shat Gambuj Mosque began in 1442 and it was completed in 1459.  Turkish General Ulugh Khan Jahan established a city at the meeting place of the Brahmaputra and Ganges River in the 15^th century named Khalifatabad in the suburb of the present Bagerhat town. The planning of this city was exclusively governed by Islamic architecture and the embellishments were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture. It housed some of the most important buildings of the preliminary period of the development of Muslim architecture in Bengal. Khan Jahan adorned this city with innumerable mosques, water tanks, roads, mausoleums, bridges and other public edifices. Baked bricks were used to make these structures.  Among the structures the Mosque of Singar, Bibi Begni and Chunakhola, the mosque of Reza Khoda, Zindavir and Ranvijoypur are mentionable.

Style:

Shat means 60 and Gambuj means dome. The name Shat Gambuj Mosque means a mosque with 60 domes but the exact number of the dome is 81. The mosque has 60 pillars that support its roof with 77 squat domes including 7 four-sided Bengali domes in the middle row. There are four towers at four corners that have smaller domes on their top. Among the towers, two were used to give azan (call for prayer). It is thought that Khan Jahan built this mosque in resemblance to Bibi Khanam mosque of Uzbekistan. The length of the mosque is 160 feet while the width is 108 feet. The mosque bears the delicate artistry of the 14^th and 15^th centuries. The massive prayer hall with eleven arched doorways on east and 7 each on north and south for ventilation and light creates a dark and somber appearance inside. It is separated into seven longitudinal aisles and eleven dense bays by 60 narrow stone columns. These columns support the curving arches made by the domes. The mosque’s wall is unusually thick (about 6 feet). The inner side of the west wall has 11 mihrabs (the bay in the mosque pointing towards Mecca) that are adorned with stonework and terracotta. The whole mosque is built with red burn mud or bricks.

More Info : https://tourrom.com/asia/bangladesh/shat-gambuj-mosque/

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