Vanga Shahi Masjid

Beside the bank of the Ichhamoti river (ইছামতি নদী), you'll find an old house that is currently abandoned. No inscription was found about the house. From the architecture of the old house, you can only guess that it was a house of a wealthy man who could have been a Zamindar (জমিদার) or a rich merchant. Boktnogor/Boktonogor(বকতনগর/বক্তনগর) is a place located near the Shikari Para(শিকারী পারা) after Bandura bazaar(বান্দুরা বাজার).

This well-built edifice has lot of rooms inside. Front side of the house is still firm, but damaged at the back sides. Still now a days the house has a lot of open spaces around including ponds. At the south-west corner of the mansion, another edifice is available. This one is an old mosque. Again it is unsure about the builder of the mosque.

If the owner of the mosque and the house is the same person, then the owner must be a Muslim. The village name is Boktnagar (বক্তনগর) which should came from Bokht Nogor (বখত নগর). Possibly someone lived there named Bokht (বখত) and sounds a Muslim name, but all are predictions.

The mosque is a small one having three domes at the top. Middle one is a bit larger compare to other twos. Just above the main gate, and inscription is found written in Arabic. The mosque has a pond at the southern side and a graveyard at the eastern side.

ইছামতি নদীর তীরে একটি পরিত্যাক্ত ভবন দেখতে পাবেন তবে কোন শিলালিপি না থাকায় এই ভবনটি সম্পর্কে বিস্তারিত জানা যায়নি। তবে, ভবনের স্থাপত্যশৈলী দেখে বোঝা যায় এটি ছিল একটি জমিদার বাড়ি। এই ভবনটির অভ্যন্তরে বেশকয়েকটি কক্ষ রয়েছে। জমিদারবাড়ির সামনের দিকটি এখনও মজবুত থাকলেও পেছনের দিকটি বেশ ক্ষতিগ্রস্থ হয়েছে।

এখনও ভবনটির চারপাশে একটি পুকুরসহ বেশকিছু খালি জায়গা রয়েছে। জমিদারবাড়ির দক্ষিন-পশ্চিম কোনায় একটি প্রাচীন মসজিদ রয়েছে। মসজিদটির নির্মাণের ব্যাপারেও কিছু জানা যায়নি। যদি জমিদারবাড়ি এবং মসজিদের মালিক একই ব্যাক্তি হয়ে থাকেন তবে ধরে নেওয়া যায় যে তিনি ছিলেন একজন মুসলিম। ধারনা করা হয়ে থাকে যে গ্রামতির নাম বক্তনগর হয়েছে বখতনগর শব্দ থেকে। এমনও হতে পারে যে, বখত নামক কোন মুসলিম ব্যাক্তির নামে গ্রামটির নামকরণ করা হয়েছে।

এখানে অবস্থিত মসজিদটি ছোট এবং তিনগম্বুজ বিশিষ্ট। তবে মাঝখানের গম্বুজটি অন্য দুটি গম্বুজের চেয়ে বড়। মসজিদের মূল প্রবেশ পথের উপরে আরবীতে লেখা শিলালিপি দেখা যায়। মসজিদের দক্ষিনে একটি পুকুর এবং পূর্বদিকে একটি কবরস্থান রয়েছে।

Sonargaon contains quite a number of Archaeological evidences, helping the scholars to reconstruct the Medieval History of Sonargaon area of Bangladesh. Goaldi Mosque, one of the very few surviving medieval monuments in the city of Sonargaon. About 6 km north-west 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.

Built in 1519, the graceful, single-domed Goaldi Mosque is the most impressive of the few extant monuments of the old capital city, and a good example of pre-Mughal architecture. This mosque is one of the few remnants from the Sultanate period in Sonargaon, during the reign of Sultan Hussain Shah in 925 Hijri (1519 AD). It was built by Mulla Hizabar Akbar Khan in the early 16th century, during the reign of Alauddin Husain Shah at a place called Goaldi - half a mile northeast of Panam village in Sonargaon. Sonargaon was the administrative center of medieval Muslim rulers of East Bengal. It became as the capital of Bengal during Isa Khan's ruling. The area falls under present-day Narayanganj District, Bangladesh. This mosque is more elegant and ornate in comparison to the earlier Sultanate mosques at Bagerhat.

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.

This mosque is known as "Pathrail Mosque". But to the local people, it has other names, and it will be easier for you to find the place if you remember the other twos. People used to call this as "Dighir Par Mosque", also it has a name that is listed at Bangladesh government, "Majlis Awlia Mosque". This Masjid has three domes at the top of it. After taking the mosque under the Archaeological Heritages of Bangladesh, the government did some furnishing task over the mosque, so that it doesn't collapse, or doesn't become a ruin.

This mosque was built during anytime between 1393 AD to 1410 AD. The pundits are assuming that the mosque was built by the great ruler, Sultan Azam Shah. At the Southern side of the mosque, "Majlis Awlia Khan", the mosque was named after his name. There is a majar just near the mosque. The mazar was formed using the name of "Mastan Darbesh Nazimuddin Dewan" and "Fakir Salimuddin Dewan". There was a large Dighi(water tank) was created just near the mosque. The water tank was made to ease the water problem of the peasant. Thats why people used to call the mosque as "Dighir par jame moshjid".

পাথরাইল মসজিদ নামে পরিচিত এই মসজিদটির অন্য আরও দুটি নাম আছে। এগুলো হলঃ দীঘিরপাড় মসজিদ এবং মজলিশ আউলিয়া মসজিদ। মসজিদের নামগুলো মনে রাখলে আপনার মসজিদটিকে খুঁজে পেতে সুবিধা হবে। প্রত্নতত্ত্ব অধিদফতরের অধিগ্রহনের পর তিন গম্বুজ বিশিষ্ট এই মসজিদটি রক্ষার জন্য বেশকিছু রক্ষণাবেক্ষণের কাজ করে সরকার। সম্ভবত ১৩৯৩ থেকে ১৪১০ সালের মধ্যে মসজিদটি নির্মিত হয়েছিল। তবে, ইতিহাসবিদদের ধারনা সুলতান আজম শাহর শাসনামলে মসজিদটি নির্মিত হয়। মসজিদের দক্ষিনে রয়েছে ‘মজলিশ আউলিয়া খান’ যার নামে মসজিদের নামকরণ করা হয়েছে। মসজিদের কাছেই ‘মাস্তান দরবেশ নাজিমউদ্দিন দেওয়ান’ এবং ‘ফকির সালিমউদ্দিন দেওয়ানের মাজার রয়েছে। মসজিদের কাছে পানির সংকট নিরসনের জন্য একটি বিশাল দিঘীও খনন করা হয়েছিল আর একারনেই স্থানীয়রা মসজিদটিকে ‘দীঘিরপাড় জামে মসজিদ’ নামে বলে থাকে।

Kartalab Khan Mashjid or Mosque of Kartalab Khan (কর্তালাব খান মসজিদ) is located at the Begum Bazar of Old Dhaka. It was built by the Dewan Murshid Quli Khan, also known as Kartalab Khan during 1701-1704, and the mosque named after him. For its location, people used to call this as Begum Bazar Mosque. Hardly very few people know this mosque as Kartalab Khan's Mosque now a days. The Google Map coordinate of the mosque is (23°43'2.03"N, 90°23'54.59"E), near to the Dhaka Central Jail.

Like any other mosques of that period, this one was built over a plinth like high vault. This mosque has five domes at the top of it, and an extended do-chala (দো চালা) like room at northern side. Though it was built around 300 years back, but now a days none of its antiquities are available.

Old Dhaka is already a congested area and there is hardly any space around the mosque for you to observe. Busy trading is going on around the mosque area. In fact it will be hard for you to stand beside the road and watch the top of the mosque.

There are buildings around the mosque those are using as market. So you can easily use any of those. This mosque could have been used as a token of our glorious past if it were handled with great care.