Brief
The Chandamari mosque in Kurigram is an ancient Mughal mosque that has been around for centuries. However, the mosque is falling inexorably into ruin due to acid rain and lack of proper maintenance. The mosque is situated in the village of Chandamari in Chakirpasha union under the Rajarhat Upazila in the district of Kurigram. No one knows the exact year the mosque was built or who built it. The locals consider it the oldest mosque in the area, at approximately five hundred years old. The architecture of the mosque is very similar to that of other buildings dating back to the Mughal times. It should be mentioned that there is no department of archaeology in the district. Should archaeologists visit the mosque and perform carbon dating experiments, its year of foundation may be pinpointed.
During a visit to the site, local man Abdul Zalil Sarker and President of the Mosque Committee Jakir Hossen Chowdhury told Star Insight that perhaps future generations will know the exact age of the mosque. “It was built in the 16th or 17th century. It bears some similarities to the structure of the Atia mosque (1609 AD) in Tangail,” a local historian said. Local sources say that though there are 52 decimals of land in the mosque’s name, whilst it is established on only five decimals. The height of the mosque is 45”. There are three large, four medium and twenty-four small domes on top, the four corners and around the mosque respectively. Nine of smaller domes have been damaged.
This mosque, however, is not one of a kind. Hundreds of old buildings with ample antique value and rich heritage are crumbling due to lack of care while others are even being deconstructed. The issue seems to be ignored completely by authorities despite plenty of public interest and protest.
The mosque was made with flat tally bricks, which were cemented together with a kind of paste called Bhishkas. The thickness of walls, roof and domes are 4”. From a long period of continued carelessness, a crack had formed in the center of the 3 large domes. Being unfit, the middle dome was reduced by ½ feet and repaired by the mosque committee, who also built a tin-shed porch in front of the mosque.
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[name] => Softhori Mosque
[post_id] => 3104
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/softhori-mosque/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Softhori-Mosque-212x300.gif
[post_content] =>
Softhori Mosque is located at center of Atwari-Boda road and the bounding line of Atwari and Thakurgaon sub-district of Panchagarh. It is the oldest mosque of the district. A person name Sudharu Saha was established Softhori Mosque. No actual information about its formation date. But there is similarity between Softhori Mosque and dome mosque at Mugrapara in Sonargaon in Narayanganj district.
It was built during the Sultani time, in 1478. For the similarity between two mosques it is assumed that Solthori Mosque was established during the Sultani time. Squire Shape Solthori Mosque has only twelve ft. width walls, with no specific place for the Imam. Hence the entry door is very low and only 5 people can pray together once. In the north and south side there are two small door. The wide compound of the front has an arch. Now the arch has changed its real look. The walls is designed with flower and leafs. The Softhori Mosque was affected by earthquake, but was reconstructed in 2007.
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[name] => {:en}Bozra Shahi Mosque{:}{:bn}বজরা শাহী মসজিদ{:}
[post_id] => 1220
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/bozra-shahi-mosque/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Bazra-Shahi-Mosque-Noakhali-01-300x225.jpg
[post_content] => {:en}
Bozra Shahi Mosque is an elegant historic mosque. Amanullah built it during the 1741-42 AD and later it was repaired by the Bazra Zamindar named Khan Bahadur Ali Ahmad and Khan Bahadur Mujir Uddin Ahmad. This mosque has similar complexion of the mosques during that era. The main difference is the stylish outer walls. It has three domes at the top; the middle dome is slight larger.
Also it has lot of small minarets at the columns of the mosque. It has three doorways at the eastern side, just under the domes. The mosque had a large water tank at the eastern side, but now it’s just shrinking into one percent of its original size. Southern side of the mosque has a large graveyard.
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একটি চমৎকার ঐতিহাসিক মসজিদের নাম বজরা শাহী মসজিদ। ১৭৪১-৪২ সালে জনৈক আমানুল্লাহ এই মসজিদটি নির্মাণ করেন এবং পরবর্তীতে বজরার জমিদার খান বাহাদুর আলী আহমাদ এবং খান বাহাদুর মুজিরউদ্দিন আহমাদ এই মসজিদটি মেরামত করেন। সেসময়কার অন্যান্য মসজিদের সাথে এই মসজিদটির স্থাপত্যশৈলীতে মিল থাকলেও বাইরের নকশা করা দেয়ালে মূল পার্থক্য পরিলক্ষিত হয়। মসজিদের তিনটি গম্বুজের মধ্যে মাঝখানের গম্বুজটি সামান্য বড়। মসজিদের খামগুলোর সাথে বেশকিছু ছোট মিনার রয়েছে। মসজিদের পূর্বদিকে গম্বুজের নীচেই তিনটি ফটক রয়েছে। মসজিদের পূর্বদিকে একটি বড় পানির ট্যাংক ছিল তবে বর্তমানে সেটির আকার অনেক ছোট। মসজিদের দক্ষিনদিকে একটি বড় কবরস্থান রয়েছে।
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[2] => Array
(
[name] => Mahajampur Ahamad Shah Mosque
[post_id] => 11558
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/mahajampur-ahamad-shah-mosque/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC067441-300x169.jpg
[post_content] =>
Mahajampur was an ancient Muslim ruled region. This region is situated few miles north to Sonargaon town area. There is a Mosque found here, named Mahajampur Ahamad Shah Mosque, which was built around in 16th C.E. The style of bricks engraving and placement of dome charms the visitors. There are so many Scholars who had described the location and beauty of this mosque at different time in various writing. Among them, ‘Parvin Hasan & A.K.M. Zakaria’ described its beauty in their writing.
Many ancient evidences of human settlement has been found along with this Mosque & Mazar structure. Archaeologist found a big quantity of ancient bricks wherever they conducted excavation in that region. Two inscriptions being discovered from this Mosque. From one of those inscriptions we came to know about Sultan Shams Uddin Ahmad Shah (1432-1436 AD), which make it named after by his name. But, it has been said that someone named Firoz khan built that Mosque.
This is a six domed Mosque, which is built following the stylistic beauty of Baba Adam Shahid Mosque. Domes over the roof are bearing the evidences of Sultani Architecture of Bengal. It contains various design and decorations which is certainly something needs to be observed meticulously.
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[name] => {:en}Ashrafpur Mosque{:}{:bn}আশরাফপুর মসজিদ{:}
[post_id] => 4267
[post_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/places/ashrafpur-mosque/
[thumb_link] => http://offroadbangladesh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSCN10881-300x225.jpg
[post_content] => {:en}Ashrafpur is an ancient village of Shibpur Upazila under Narsingdi district. In this village there was two seventh century’s copperplate inscription discovered. Ashrafpur Mosque is situated 1 kilometer south to the finding place of these copperplates. An inscribed stone of this Mosque,Once which was attached to the mosque and now preserved in the Bangladesh national museum, reveals that the mosque was built in 930 AH/ 1524 AD by Dilwar Khan during the reign of Sultan Nasiruddin Abul Muzaffar Nusrat Shah (1519-1532).
The mosque, ruined by the earthquake of 1897, was abandoned, prayer in it discontinued and in course of time it got shrouded by jungle. In 1940 the jungle was cleared and the mosque recovered under the leadership of Mowlana Syed Ali. Even at that time the Mihrab and a portion of the western wall was extant. It was a single domed small mosque built in the sultanate style. Later on, a three-domed modern mosque has been built on the same site where once stood the Sultani mosque.{:}{:bn}
আশরাফপুর গ্রামে যে স্থানে ৭ শতকের দুটো তাম্রফলক পাওয়া গিয়েছিল সেই স্থানের ১ কিলোমিটার দক্ষিনে আশরাফপুর মসজিদটি অবস্থিত। আশরাফপুর মসজিদের শিলালিপিটি বর্তমানে জাতীয় জাদুঘরে সংরক্ষিত আছে। শিলালিপি থেকে জানা যায় যে ৯৩০ হিজরী এবং ১৫২৪ খ্রিস্টাব্দে সুলতান নাসিরউদ্দিন আবুল মুজাফফর নুসরাত শাহ এর শাসনামলে (১৫১৯-১৫৩২) জনৈক দিলওয়ার খান এই মসজিদটি নির্মাণ করিয়েছিলেন।
১৮৯৭ সালের ভয়াবহ ভুমিকম্পে ক্ষতিগ্রস্থ হবার পর মসজিদটিকে পরিত্যাক্ত করা হয় এবং ধীরে ধীরে মসজিদটি জঙ্গলে ঢেকে যায়। ১৯৪০ সালে মওলানা সৈয়দ আলীর নেতৃত্বে জঙ্গল পরিষ্কারের পর মসজিদটিকে উদ্ধার করা হয়। সেসময় মসজিদের মিহরাব এবং পশ্চিমদিকের দেয়ালের অস্তিত্ব ছিল। এক গম্বুজ বিশিষ্ট ছোট এই মসজিদটি সুলতানাত শৈলীতে নির্মাণ করা হয়েছিল। পরবর্তীতে এই মসজিদের স্থানেই একটি তিন গম্বুজ বিশিষ্ট আধুনিক মসজিদ নির্মাণ করা হয়।
আশরাফপুরের তাম্রফলকের অভিলিখন:
নরসিংদী জেলার শিবপুর উপজেলায় অবস্থিত আশরাফপুর গ্রামটি প্রত্নতাত্ত্বিক নিদর্শনের জন্য খুবই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। ১১৮৫ সালে মিয়া বখশ খান নামের একজন গ্রামবাসী এখানে একটি মাটির স্তূপ থেকে ৭ শতকের দুটি তাম্রফলকের সন্ধান পান। তাম্রফলকের অভিলিখন থেকে জানা যায় খাডগা বংশের জনৈক দেবখাডগা এখানকার বৌদ্ধ সংঘ এবং বিহারকে কিছু জমি দান করেছিলেন। এখানে মাটি খনন করে কিছু প্রাচীন ইট এবং একটি ধ্বংসপ্রাপ্ত দেয়ালের অংশবিশেষও উদ্ধার করা হয়।
এই স্থানে আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে খননকাজ করা না হলেও মানুষের বসতি নির্মাণের সময় কিছু খনন করার প্রয়োজন হয়েছিল। ইতিহাসবিদরা মনে করেন এখানে অবস্থিত বৌদ্ধ বিহারটি ছিল অত্র অঞ্চলে বৌদ্ধ ধর্ম চর্চা এবং শিক্ষার একটি কেন্দ্র।
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