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Star Mosque is situated in Abdul Khairat Road, Armanitola,
in the old part of Dhaka City. The mosque is not dated by any inscription.
It is known that one Mirza Golam Pir, whose ancestors had come to Dhaka
and settled in Mohalla Ale Abu Sayeed (present-day Armanitola),
erected it. Mirza Golam Pir died in 1860, and hence the date of construction
of the mosque may conveniently be placed in the first half of the 19th
century.
Originally it was an oblong (10.06m × 4.04m) three-domed
mosque. There were three mihrabs on the Qibla wall in alignment
with the three doorways of the mosque, of which the central one was larger
than the side ones. The prayer chamber was roofed with three domes, the
central one being taller and larger than the other two. The domes are
carried in the interior on squinches. The original mosque building was
not as decorated as it is now. The dilapidated plain and naked wall of
the western side bears witness to the plainness of the past. The three
southern doorways of the mosque are no doubt the old ones.
In 1926 a local businessman named Alijan Bepari added a verandah
to the mosque on its eastern side, thereby almost doubling the
width of the mosque without changing its original plan. Five arches
were erected on four pillars on the eastern facade of the verandah.
He also financed its resurfacing with delicate and richly coloured
tiles of variegated patterns.
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Star Mosque, Armanitola,
Dhaka |
In 1987 the three-domed mosque was transformed into a
five-domed mosque. At present, the length and breadth of the mosque is
21.34m and 7.98m respectively. Some changes took place in its plan; one
mihrab was demolished and two new domes and three new mihrabs were added.
Five arched doorways provide entrance to the mosque. The multifoiled arches
spring up from octagonal pillars.
The mosque, both inside and outside, is decorated with
mosaic. Small chips of Chinaware-plate, cup etc and pieces of glass have
been used for mosaic. This type of mosaic is called 'Chini Tikri'
work. Vase with flowers is an important decorative motif on the spandrel
of the arches and elsewhere on the facade. Flower-vases, flower branches,
rosset, crescent, star, and Arabic calligraphic writing have been used
in the decoration of the mosque. The outer wall between the doors are
decorated with the motif of Fujisan (Mount Fuji) on glazed tiles and a
crescent-and-star design decorates the upper part of the facade. Hundreds
of blue stars have been created on the domes of white marble. All over
the mosque the motif of stars dominate the decoration and so the mosque
is called the Star Mosque (Tara Masjid). [Ayesha Begum]
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