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| Bagha mosque |
Bagha Mosque :
Bagha Mosque, an exquisite structure built in 1523-24, is situated near
Bagha upazila headquarters, about 35 kilometers southeast of Rajshahi city.
According to an inscription on the mosque’s central entrance, it was built by
Sultan Nusrat Shah, son of Husayn Shah. The inscription is now preserved in Karachi,
Pakistan.
The mosque was built on the western bank of a fairly large tank within a brick-walled compound. It could be accessed through two arched gateways from the north and the south.
The boundary wall with two entrances and the evidence of the ruler gallery shows that the brick-built mosque, now a protected monument of the Department of Archaeology, is an oblong structure measuring externally about 26.35m by 12.86m.
The prayer hall is divided into five aisles and two longitudinal bays by a row of four freestanding black basalt pillars. The shafts of those pillars are monolithic like the conventional stone pillars in Gaur whereas the capital and the base are also from two different pieces of stones. The external brick wall is 2.23-meter thick and has two stone layers. One stone layer is placed at the plinth level and the other at the lintel level.
The prayer hall can be accessed from the east by five identical arched openings, and the side walls contain two openings sealed at present.
A stone lintel proves the existence of perforated bricks in the side openings for ventilation and lighting. The kibla wall contains four richly ornate mihrab (niches) and three southern aisles have one mihrab each. The fourth aisle has no mihrab. It is believed to be used as a mimbar. The fifth or the northernmost aisle has a small mihrab placed at the upper level. This small mihrab proves that there was a raised gallery covering the northwestern part of the prayer hall.
Similar to the gallery of Kusumba Mosque in Rajshahi, this raised gallery was probably accessed from the interior of the hall, while the adjacent side in the northern wall has no entrance at the gallery level.
The four-corner octagonal turrets, one at each corner, are divided into five tiers by horizontal mouldings and are covered by a plain solid cupola. Four freestanding stone pillars and ten partly concealed pilasters support the roof of ten equal hemispherical domes. The brick pendentives at each corner of a grid transfer the square supporting area into a circular base, upon which the hemispherical domes rest.
Bagha mosque in Rajshahi is worth mentioning for its profound terracotta ornamentation, although much of the original terracotta panels have been replaced. The wall surfaces and the octagonal corner turrets are decorated with various terracotta motifs. The wall surface is vertically divided by a string course, with a lozenge on its face, run all around the four walls and breaking only at the position of all openings.
Above and below the string course are friezes of upright and inverted merlons respectively. All the openings and the mihrabs are set within ornate rectangular frames that are surmounted by ornamental merlons. Spaces between these rectangular frames for the opening are adorned with two large rectangular terracotta panels, placed one above the other. Each panel is encircled by a frame of tendrils, and a chain and bell motif inside. The upper part or cornice on all four sides is gently curved. There are four mouldings in this cornice impressed with ornaments. The interspaces between the mouldings are also ornate with continuous floral frieze motifs.
An earthquake in 1897 damaged all the domes and the eastern wall of the mosque.
In 1978, the Department of Archaeology, Bangladesh took up the initiative and restored the mosque
The mosque was built on the western bank of a fairly large tank within a brick-walled compound. It could be accessed through two arched gateways from the north and the south.
The boundary wall with two entrances and the evidence of the ruler gallery shows that the brick-built mosque, now a protected monument of the Department of Archaeology, is an oblong structure measuring externally about 26.35m by 12.86m.
The prayer hall is divided into five aisles and two longitudinal bays by a row of four freestanding black basalt pillars. The shafts of those pillars are monolithic like the conventional stone pillars in Gaur whereas the capital and the base are also from two different pieces of stones. The external brick wall is 2.23-meter thick and has two stone layers. One stone layer is placed at the plinth level and the other at the lintel level.
The prayer hall can be accessed from the east by five identical arched openings, and the side walls contain two openings sealed at present.
A stone lintel proves the existence of perforated bricks in the side openings for ventilation and lighting. The kibla wall contains four richly ornate mihrab (niches) and three southern aisles have one mihrab each. The fourth aisle has no mihrab. It is believed to be used as a mimbar. The fifth or the northernmost aisle has a small mihrab placed at the upper level. This small mihrab proves that there was a raised gallery covering the northwestern part of the prayer hall.
Similar to the gallery of Kusumba Mosque in Rajshahi, this raised gallery was probably accessed from the interior of the hall, while the adjacent side in the northern wall has no entrance at the gallery level.
The four-corner octagonal turrets, one at each corner, are divided into five tiers by horizontal mouldings and are covered by a plain solid cupola. Four freestanding stone pillars and ten partly concealed pilasters support the roof of ten equal hemispherical domes. The brick pendentives at each corner of a grid transfer the square supporting area into a circular base, upon which the hemispherical domes rest.
Bagha mosque in Rajshahi is worth mentioning for its profound terracotta ornamentation, although much of the original terracotta panels have been replaced. The wall surfaces and the octagonal corner turrets are decorated with various terracotta motifs. The wall surface is vertically divided by a string course, with a lozenge on its face, run all around the four walls and breaking only at the position of all openings.
Above and below the string course are friezes of upright and inverted merlons respectively. All the openings and the mihrabs are set within ornate rectangular frames that are surmounted by ornamental merlons. Spaces between these rectangular frames for the opening are adorned with two large rectangular terracotta panels, placed one above the other. Each panel is encircled by a frame of tendrils, and a chain and bell motif inside. The upper part or cornice on all four sides is gently curved. There are four mouldings in this cornice impressed with ornaments. The interspaces between the mouldings are also ornate with continuous floral frieze motifs.
An earthquake in 1897 damaged all the domes and the eastern wall of the mosque.
In 1978, the Department of Archaeology, Bangladesh took up the initiative and restored the mosque
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