Goaldi Mosque
The Goaldi Mosque (Bengali: গোয়ালদি মসজিদ) is a mosque in the historic Bengali capital of Sonargaon, in Narayanganj District, in the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. The Sultanate period mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah in 925 A.H./1519 AD.[1] It is one of the few surviving medieval monuments in Sonargaon Upazila.[2] HistoryThe mosque was established in 1519 by Mulla Hizabar Akbar Khan during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah of Bengal at a place called Goaldi - half a mile northeast of Panam city in Sonargaon. Sonargaon was a Mint Town of the Bengal Sultanate and often served as a royal capital. The Sultans often launched raids into Assam, Tripura and Arakan from Sonargaon.[1] The town was the principal administrative center of eastern Bengal, particularly the Bhati region. The area falls under present-day Narayanganj District. The mosque is of the more elegant and ornate sultanate-era mosques in the country.[citation needed] Prior to the 1975 restoration by Bangladesh's Directorate of Archaeology, the dome and most of the south, east, and north walls had collapsed, with only the western qibla wall remaining intact.[3] Architectural featuresThe Goaldi Mosque features a square prayer hall with internal dimensions of 4.93 by 4.97 m (16.2 by 16.3 ft) meters, enclosed by a surrounding wall 1.65 to 2.29 meters thick.[a] It is an example of the 'enclosed square type' mosque of Bengal that is distinguished by a cubical prayer chamber with corner towers and entrances on all sides except the qibla wall. A single dome caps the mosque; engaged ribbed turrets define the four corners; and the cornice is gently sloped. Circular corner towers are a deviation from the usual octagonal corner towers. This is the only example of circular corner towers in the Dhaka district. Accentuating the cornice is a row of small niches with floral motifs inside.[citation needed] The east facade has three arched openings, embellished on either sides with rectangular panels of delicate relief work in the form of a niche with an ornamental hanging lamp motif. The north and south facades similarly display three arches, though only the center arch is open while the two side arches are blind. The dome is carried on squinches that spring from the tops of stone pilasters, two on each wall. The qibla wall has three mihrabs. It is decorated with beautiful, intricate patterns composed of an ornamental hanging lamp motif. The two flanking mihrabs are decorated in similar fashion but instead of black basalt they are made of brick and fine terracotta work.[4] InscriptionThe mosque Inscription dates the mosque's erection to 15 Shaban 925 AH or 12 August 1519 in Georgian calendar. Inscription in Perso-Arabic reads:
Present conditionThe condition of mosque had deteriorated: with the exception of the qibla wall the entire mosque had collapsed, including the dome. Careful restoration was executed by the Department of Archaeology and Museums and this small graceful mosque is now restored to resemble its original design.[2] See alsoNotes
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