Singar Mosque

{{Infobox religious building

|name = Singair Mosque

| native_name = {{lang|bn|সিংগাইর মসজিদ}}

| native_name_lang = bn

|image = সিংগার_মসজিদ_01.jpg

|image_upright = 1.4

|caption = The east façade of the mosque

|map_type = Bangladesh

|map_size = 250

| map_relief = 1

|map_caption = Location of the mosque in Bangladesh

|coordinates = {{coord|22.6728|N|89.7425|E|region:BD_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

|religious_affiliation = Sunni Islam

| status = Mosque

| functional_status = Active

|location = Bagerhat, Khulna Division

|country = Bangladesh

|consecration_year =

|administration = Department of Archaeology

|leadership =

|website =

|architect =

|architecture_type = {{nowrap|Mosque architecture}}

|architecture_style = {{ubl|Indo-Islamic|Bengal Sultanate}}

|facade_direction =

|year_completed = {{nowrap|Mid-15th century CE}}

|construction_cost =

|capacity =

|length = {{cvt|43|ft|9|in|m|order=flip}}

|width = {{cvt|43|ft|9|in|m|order=flip}}

|width_nave =

|height_max =

| interior_area = {{cvt|26|sqft|m2|order=flip}}

|dome_quantity = One

|dome_height_outer =

|dome_height_inner =

|dome_dia_outer =

|dome_dia_inner =

|minaret_quantity =

|minaret_height =

|spire_quantity =

|spire_height =

|materials = Burnt brick

| module = {{Infobox historic site

| embed = yes

| designation1_offname = Mosque City of Bagerhat

| designation1 = WHS

| designation1_date = 1985 (9th session)

| designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321 321]

| designation1_criteria = iv

| designation1_type = Cultural

| designation1_free1name = Region

| designation1_free1value = Asia-Pacific

}}

The Singar Mosque ({{langx|bn|সিঙ্গাইর মসজিদ}})Transliterations vary. Signage on site spells it Singair. Perween Hasan uses Shingria and Banglapedia uses Singria, whereas most other sources use Singair. is a 15th-century Sunni mosque that forms a part of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site in the southwestern Khulna Division of Bangladesh. The mosque is characterized by its single-domed, square structure constructed with exposed brick and adorned with terracotta decorations.

Location

The Singar Mosque is indeed a constituent of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, located in the south-western region of Bangladesh.{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321 |title=Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat |website=World Heritage Convention |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=8 June 2020 |archive-date=3 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703185032/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321 |url-status=live }} Positioned on the southern side of the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway, it is situated approximately {{convert|200|m}} southeast of the Sixty Dome Mosque.{{cite book |last=Hasan |first=Perween |year=2007 |title=Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh |publisher=I.B. Tauris |pages=125–127 |isbn=978-1-84511-381-0}}{{cite web |url=https://archnet.org/sites/2980 |title=Singar Mosque |website=ArchNet |access-date=11 Oct 2019 |archive-date=11 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011145451/https://archnet.org/sites/2980 |url-status=live }}

History

The Singar Mosque lacks any inscriptions that can be used to establish its exact date of construction. Architect Abu Sayeed M Ahmed estimates that it is from the 15th century.{{cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Abu Sayeed M |author-link=Abu Sayeed M Ahmed |year=2006 |title=Mosque Architecture in Bangladesh |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001583/158361eo.pdf |location=Dhaka |publisher=UNESCO |page=205 |isbn=984-32-3469-3 |access-date=2020-06-09 |archive-date=2018-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916093119/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001583/158361eo.pdf |url-status=live }} Other experts believe, based on the known ages of stylistically similar local buildings, that it was built in the mid-15th century.{{cite journal |last=Alamgir |first=Khoundkar |date=2008–2009 |title=Single Unit Square Type Sultanate Buildings of Bengal |url=https://www.academia.edu/12747160 |url-access=registration |journal=Journal of Bengal Art |volume=13–14 |page=241 |access-date=2020-06-09 |archive-date=2023-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217160251/https://www.academia.edu/12747160 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Bari |first=M. A. |year=2012 |chapter=Singra Mosque |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Singra_Mosque |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |access-date=2020-06-09 |archive-date=2020-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609005507/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Singra_Mosque |url-status=live }} There is archaeological evidence that at one time the mosque compound was surrounded by a wall with towers at the corners and an entrance gate on the east.{{cite book |last=van Lohuizen de Leeuw |first=Johanna E. |year=1984 |chapter=The early Muslim monuments at Bagerhat |editor-last=Michell |editor-first=George |title=The Islamic Heritage of Bengal |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000604/060439eo.pdf |publisher=UNESCO |page=176 |isbn=92-3-102174-5 |access-date=2020-06-09 |archive-date=2018-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006114518/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000604/060439eo.pdf |url-status=live }}

Banglapedia describes the mosque's condition in the early 1970s as "in utter ruin". The Bangladeshi Department of Archaeology took over management of the site in 1975. In 1984, archaeologist Johanna E. van Lohuizen de Leeuw wrote that the building had been partly restored, but "its corner towers are still in a shocking state". The Mosque City of Bagerhat, of which Singair Mosque is a part, was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1985. The mosque was rated as being in a "fair state of preservation" in the 2010s.

Architecture

The mosque is a square, that externally measures {{convert|43|ft|9|in|m|order=flip}} long and wide, while internally it has a square plan of {{convert|26|sqft|m2|order=flip}}.{{cite book |last1=Reza |first1=Mohammad Habib |last2=Hossain |first2=Md Shajjad |date=2017 |title=Documentation of Islamic Heritage of Bangladesh |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317304484_Documentation_of_Islamic_Heritage_of_Bangladesh |format=pdf |language=English |location=Dhaka |publisher=Brac University |access-date=2021-01-31 |archive-date=2022-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605063433/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317304484_Documentation_of_Islamic_Heritage_of_Bangladesh |url-status=live }} It has a single hemispherical dome. The entirety is constructed of brick. There are three doorways in the east, and one each in the north and south. The central doorway in the east is higher and wider than the others.{{cite thesis |last=Naqi |first=Md. Ali |author-link=Mohammad Ali Naqi |date=March 2003 |title=The Architecture of the Khan-e-Jahan Style: Context and Influence |type=Masters of Architecture |publisher=Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology |url=http://lib.buet.ac.bd:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/1336/Full%20%20Thesis%20.pdf |page=83–84 |access-date=8 June 2020}} The exterior of the west wall has a mihrab projection from the ground to the cornice. At the four corners of the building are engaged circular towers which rise to roof level. The cornice is gently curved, and is {{convert|12|in|cm|order=flip}} higher at the center than at the ends.

The doorways are pointed archways set within rectangular recesses, at the top of which are several horizontal rows of terracotta ornamentation. The corner towers are divided horizontally at regular intervals by raised bands. The cornice has two bands decorated with terracotta.

The mosque's walls are {{convert|7|ft|m|order=flip}} thick. The interior has a single mihrab in the qibla wall, on axis with the central entrance in the east. It is flanked by two decorated octagonal pilasters from which springs a multifoil arch with terracotta rosettes in the spandrels. All these are bordered by two rectangular frames, the space between which is filled with a four-petalled mesh in terracotta. To each side of the mihrab is a multifoil arched niche in a rectangular recess. The north and south walls each have two similar, but smaller niches.

Squinches spring from brick pilasters to support the base of the dome.

Gallery

Singair Mosque (সিঙ্গাইর মসজিদ, বাগেরহাট) (2).jpg|Singair Mosque, viewed from the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway

সিংগার মসজিদ 01.jpg|The curved cornice, characteristic of Sultanate architecture, is an indigenous form derived from village huts.{{cite book |last=Hasan |first=Perween |year=2007 |title=Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh |publisher=I.B. Tauris |pages=23, 49 |isbn=978-1-84511-381-0}}