Singair Mosque সিংগাইর মসজিদ | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Sunni Islam |
Location | |
Country | Bangladesh |
Geographic coordinates | 22°40′22″N 89°44′33″E / 22.6728°N 89.7425°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Mosque |
Style | Indo-Islamic, Sultanate |
Completed | Mid fifteenth century CE |
Specifications | |
Dome(s) | 1 |
Materials | Burnt brick |
The Singar Mosque ( Bengali: সিঙ্গাইর মসজিদ) [note 1] is a 15th-century mosque that forms a part of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, a designated World Heritage Site in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. This mosque is characterized by its single-domed, square structure constructed with exposed brick and adorned with terracotta decorations.
The Singar Mosque is indeed a constituent of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, located in the south-western region of Bangladesh. [1] Positioned on the southern side of the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway, it is situated approximately 200 metres (660 ft) southeast of the Sixty Dome Mosque. [2] [3]
The Singar Mosque lacks any inscriptions that can be used to establish its exact date of construction. [2] Architect Abu Sayeed M Ahmed estimates that it is from the 15th century. [4] Other experts believe, based on the known ages of stylistically similar local buildings, that it was built in the mid-15th century. [2] [5] [6] 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. [5] [7]
Banglapedia describes the mosque's condition in the early 1970s as "in utter ruin". The government's Department of Archaeology took over the site in 1975. [6] 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". [7] The Mosque City of Bagerhat, of which Singair Mosque is a part, was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites in 1985. [1] The mosque was rated as being in a "fair state of preservation" in the 2010s. [6]
The mosque is a square of 43'9" x 43'9" externally while internally it has a square plan of 26'0" x 26'0". [9] 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. [2] The central doorway in the east is higher and wider than the others. [10] The exterior of the west wall has a mihrab projection from the ground to the cornice. [5] At the four corners of the building are engaged circular towers which rise to roof level. [2] [6] The cornice is gently curved, being 12 inches (0.30 m) higher at the center than at the ends. [10]
The doorways are pointed archways set within rectangular recesses, [2] at the top of which are several horizontal rows of terracotta ornamentation. [5] The corner towers are divided horizontally at regular intervals by raised bands. The cornice has two bands decorated with terracotta. [6]
The mosque's walls are 7 feet (2.1 m) thick. [5] 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. [2] [10] 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. [5] [10]
Squinches spring from brick pilasters to support the base of the dome. [2]