A beautiful mosque on the bank of Khania Dighi

Khania Dighi Mosque also called Rajbibi Masjid, is located on the western bank of Khania Dighi, which is about a quarter mile away from the high mud wall of the ancient city of Gaur on the north and the Balia Dighi on the west in Chapai wabganj district. The building is now in a good state after thorough repairs undertaken by the Directorate of Archaeology, Bangladesh.
Built mainly of bricks, the mosque consists of a square prayer chamber, 9m a side, and a verandah of 9m ‘ 3m in the east. The prayer chamber is roofed over by a large hemispherical dome, while the verandah is covered by three small domes.
The large dome of the prayer chamber is carried on half-domed squinches on the corners and blocked arches on the four cardinal sides and the pendentives in between the arches. The three small domes of the verandah are built on pendentives. The prayer hall is entered by three archways from the verandah which correspond in height and width to the three archways on the eastern facade and a single archway from the north and south sides. The four exterior angles of the building are marked by octagonal towers rising upto the roof level. Two other towers distinguish the points where the verandah joins the prayer chamber. All the towers are divided into sections by raised bands. The cornice of the building is slightly curved.
The mosque is not dated by any inscription although there is an epigraph over the central mihrab containing only verses from the Quran. But on stylistic ground it has been assigned to the later Ilyash Shahi period, say around 1480 AD.
It is important to note that the mosque, consisting of a single-domed prayer hall and a three-domed verandah on the east, marks an improvement over the simple square single-domed type, which was so common in Bengal. The earliest known specimen of the type is the gopalganj mosque (1460) in Dinajpur town. The type was very popular in Bengal unlike in other parts of India. There are numerous other examples, such as the chamkathi mosque (1475) and the lattan mosque (1493-1519) in Gaur, the masjidbari mosque (1465) in Patuakhali, the sankarpasHa mosque (1494-1499 AD) in Sylhet, the naVagram mosque (1526) in Pabna and the atiya mosque (1609) in Tangail. Where did the idea of this type of mosque come fromFoodgrain Was it an innovation of Bengali architectsFoodgrain Investigation into the architectural history of the Muslim world reveals that it resembles a popular type of mosques built in Turkish Anatolia under the Seljuks and the early Ottomans. It seems that the influence came from this distant land by way of immigrant Seljuk artists or craftsmen who took shelter in distant lands due to Mongol incursions into their territory.
Source: Banglapedia

 

A beautiful mosque on the bank of Khania Dighi

Khania Dighi Mosque also called Rajbibi Masjid, is located on the western bank of Khania Dighi, which is about a quarter mile away from the high mud wall of the ancient city of Gaur on the north and the Balia Dighi on the west in Chapai wabganj district. The building is now in a good state after thorough repairs undertaken by the Directorate of Archaeology, Bangladesh. Built mainly of bricks, the mosque consists of a square prayer chamber, 9m a side, and a verandah of 9m 3m in the east. The prayer chamber is roofed over by a large hemispherical dome, while the verandah is covered by three small domes. The large dome of the prayer chamber is carried on half-domed squinches on the corners and blocked arches on the four cardinal sides and the pendentives in between the arches. The three small domes of the verandah are built on pendentives. The prayer hall is entered by three archways from the verandah which correspond in height and width to the three archways on the eastern facade and a single archway from the north and south sides. The four exterior angles of the building are marked by octagonal towers rising upto the roof level. Two other towers distinguish the points where the verandah joins the prayer chamber. All the towers are divided into sections by raised bands. The cornice of the building is slightly curved. The mosque is not dated by any inscription although there is an epigraph over the central mihrab containing only verses from the Quran. But on stylistic ground it has been assigned to the later Ilyash Shahi period, say around 1480 AD. It is important to note that the mosque, consisting of a single-domed prayer hall and a three-domed verandah on the east, marks an improvement over the simple square single-domed type, which was so common in Bengal. The earliest known specimen of the type is the gopalganj mosque (1460) in Dinajpur town. The type was very popular in Bengal unlike in other parts of India. There are numerous other examples, such as the chamkathi mosque (1475) and the lattan mosque (1493-1519) in Gaur, the masjidbari mosque (1465) in Patuakhali, the sankarpasHa mosque (1494-1499 AD) in Sylhet, the naVagram mosque (1526) in Pabna and the atiya mosque (1609) in Tangail. Where did the idea of this type of mosque come fromFoodgrain Was it an innovation of Bengali architectsFoodgrain Investigation into the architectural history of the Muslim world reveals that it resembles a popular type of mosques built in Turkish Anatolia under the Seljuks and the early Ottomans. It seems that the influence came from this distant land by way of immigrant Seljuk artists or craftsmen who took shelter in distant lands due to Mongol incursions into their territory. Source: Banglapedia