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Goaldi Mosque one of the very few surviving medieval
monuments in the city of sonargaon.
About six km northwest of the little township of Panam, near Sonargaon
in Narayanganj district, there are two such precariously surviving old
single-domed mosques in the sequestered hamlet of Goaldi, virtually hidden
behind thick bamboo brakes and clusters of mango and jackfruit tree groves.
One of the mosques was built in 1116 AH / 1705 AD by a certain
Abdul Hamid, during the reign of Mughal Emperor aurangzeb.
Of late, it has been extensively renovated and enlarged. The other
one, close to it in the same village, is also a single-domed square
mosque with 4.8m sides, built according to an inscription by Mulla
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Goaldi Mosque, Sonargaon |
Hizabar Akbar Khan on 15 Shaban in 925 AH/ August 1519
AD, during the reign of Sultan Alauddin husain
shah, son of Sayyid Ashraf ul Husaini. cunningham
procured an estampage of the epigraph and forwarded it to the Asiatic
Society of Bengal. blochmann
deciphered this Arabic inscription (now lost) and edited the text with
a translation in 1873 AD.
This elegant little pre-Mughal mosque - the oldest in
the area - was in utter ruins when declared 'protected' by the Department
of Archaeology, but subsequently the monument was carefully restored in
1975 AD. Provided with three arched entrances to the edifice on the east
and one each on the north and the south (now bricked up) the base of the
dome rests on squinch arches at the four corners which support the dome
on pendentives. There are some ornamental black stone pillars inside the
prayer hall for the support of the roof. Corresponding to the three arched
doorways on the east there are three richly decorated mihrabs on the west
wall, of which the central one is bigger and beautifully embellished with
curved floral and arabesque relief on dark black stone, but the flanking
side mihrabs are ornamented with delicate terracotta floral and geometric
patterns. The central stone mihrab is framed within an arched panel with
an expanded sunflower motif in the centre. Below that the spandrels of
the multi-cusped arch of the mihrab are decorated within a rectangular
frame. The engrailed arched recess is carried on stunted octagonal pillars
faceted at stages. Four round banded turrets at the outer corners rise
up to the curvilinear cornice.
[Nazimuddin Ahmed]
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