Sixty Dome Mosque
{{short description|Mosque in Bagerhat, Bangladesh}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Sixty Dome Mosque
| native_name = ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Sixty Dome Mosque,Bagerhat.jpg
| image_upright = 1.4
| caption = The mosque in 2017
| map_type = Bangladesh
| map_size = 250
| map_relief = 1
| map_caption = Location of the mosques in Bangladesh
| coordinates = {{coord|22|40|28|N|89|44|31|E|region:BD_type:landmark_source:kolossus-eswiki|display=it}}
| location = Bagerhat, Khulna Division
| country = Bangladesh
| religious_affiliation = Islam
| status = Mosque
| functional_status = Active
| founded_by = Khan Jahan Ali
| groundbreaking = 1442 CE
| year_completed = 1459 CE
| architect = Khan Jahan Ali
| architecture_type = {{nowrap|Mosque architecture}}
| architecture_style = {{ubl|Tughlaq|Bengal Sultanate}}
| capacity =
| length = {{cvt|148|ft|6|in|m|order=flip}}
| width = {{cvt|101|ft|4|in|m|order=flip}}
| interior_area = {{cvt|17280|sqft|m2|order=flip|abbr=on}}
| website =
| dome_quantity = 81
| minaret_quantity = Four
| 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 Sixty Dome Mosque, also known as the Shait-Gumbuz Masjid, is a mosque, located in Bagerhat, in the Khulna Division of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the largest mosque in Bangladesh from the Bengal Sultanate period (1352{{endash}}1576). It was built by Khan Jahan Ali, the governor of the Sundarbans. It has been described as "one of the most impressive Muslim monuments in the whole of South Asia."{{cite book |last=Bari |first=M. A. |year=2012 |chapter=Shatgumbad Mosque |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Shatgumbad_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}} It situated is approximately {{convert|3|mi|km|order=flip}} from the main town of Bagerhat;{{cite web |url=http://www.travel-bangladesh.net/shat-gambuj-mosque-world-heritage-site-as-historical-beautiful-mosque |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223032548/http://www.travel-bangladesh.net/shat-gambuj-mosque-world-heritage-site-as-historical-beautiful-mosque |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 23, 2013 |title=Shat Gambuj Mosque: world Heritage site as a historical beautiful mosque |work=Travel-bangladesh.net |access-date=2013-08-28}} and nearly {{convert|200|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} from Dhaka.{{cite web |url=http://bangladeshcontinual.blogspot.com/2011/08/shat-gambuj-masjid-sixty-domes-mosque.html |title=The Shat Gambuj Masjid (The Sixty Domes Mosque) |work=Bangladesh Continual |publisher=Rafiul alam |date=August 2011 |access-date=2012-04-14}}
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'.{{cite web |url=http://www.banglaview24.com/tourist-places/shat-gombuj-mosque.html |title=Shat Gombuj Mosque – Bangladesh |work=Banglaview24.com |date=2012-04-24 |access-date=2013-08-28}} 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 ({{convert|160|by|108|ft|m|order=flip}}). 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 {{convert|148|ft|6|in|m|order=flip}} by {{convert|101|ft|4|in|m|order=flip}} externally, and {{convert|123|ft|3|in|m|order=flip}} by {{convert|76|ft|2|in|m|order=flip}} internally.{{cite book |author1=Reza, Mohammad Habib |author2=Hossain, MD Shajjad |date=2017 |title=Documentation of Islamic Heritage of Bangladesh |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317304484_Documentation_of_Islamic_Heritage_of_Bangladesh |lang=en-EN |location=Dhaka |publisher=Brac University}} 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 aisles and bays by slender columns, which culminate in numerous arches 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 {{convert|6|ft|m|1|order=flip}} thick, slightly tapering walls and hollow and round, almost detached corner towers, resembling the bastions of fortress, each capped by small rounded cupolas, 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 {{langx|ar|شصت عمؤد|Amud|column}}, later got corrupted in {{langx|bn|গম্বুজ|Gombuj|dome}}.
Gallery
ষাটগুম্বজ মসজিদ.jpg|Side view
Sixty Dome Mosque-09.jpg|Arch of the mosque
Sixty Dome Mosque-18.jpg|Exterior of the mosque
ষাটগুম্বজ মসজিদের ভিতরের পিলার.jpg|Inside of mosque
60 Dome Mosque, Bagerhat.jpg|Southeastern view
Panoramic view of Sixty Dome Mosque.jpg|Panoramic view
Shat Gombuj Mosque 0008.JPG|Ceiling of the mosque
ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ (কেবলা).jpg|Inside of the mosque
ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদের মেহরাব ১.jpg|Mosque arches
ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদের মেহরাব ২.jpg|Mosque arches
ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদঃ মুলদ্বার।.jpg|Mosque arches, exterior
ষাট গম্বুজ মসজিদ ভেতরের দৃশ্য.jpg|Inside pillars
See also
{{stack|{{portal|Bangladesh|Islam}}}}
References
External links
{{Commons category|Sixty Dome Mosque}}
- {{cite web |url=http://archnet.org/sites/1498 |title=Saith Gunbad Masjid |work=Archnet |date= |access-date= }}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.topworldimages.com/Sixty_Dome_Mosque.htm |title=Multimedia Resources of Shat Gombuj Mosque |work=Top World Images |format= |date= |access-date= }}
- {{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321/ |title=Sixty Dome Mosque |work=World Heritage Site |publisher=UNESCO |date= |access-date= }}
{{Mosques in Bangladesh}}
Category:15th-century mosques in Bangladesh
Category:Architecture of the Tughlaq dynasty
Category:Bengal Sultanate mosques
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1459
Category:Mosque buildings with domes in Bangladesh
Category:Mosque buildings with minarets in Bangladesh