Rezakhoda Mosque
Bagerhat, Bangladesh

This six-domed mosque is locally considered to be contemporary with Khan Jahan Ali style mosques of Khalifatabad and located at Khalifatabad, present day Bagerhat. Presently, the mosque is in a ruin condition and a temporary mosque has been constructed on the site. It can be assumed from the ruins that it was a multi-domed mosque from the late-fifteenth century.

The mosque is a Sultanate mosque; a rectangular structure crowned with six domes. The mosque is situated on the bank of a local pond, approximately 200' north-west of Zinda Peer Mosque.

The mosque was a rectangle of 54'2" x 41'2" externally while internally it had a rectangular plan of 39'10" x 26'2". The structure was a single chamber, internally divided into six equal grids roofed over by six hemispherical domes. The eastern façade had three framed arched openings to the prayer hall. The northern and southern façades had two framed arched openings to the prayer hall. There were three mihrabs, each aligned with the three entrances at east and the central portion of the qibla wall is projected westward. Stylistically this kind is known as Khan Jahan Ali architecture, commonly found in and around south-western part of Bangladesh.

The square structure was buttressed by four corner octagonal turrets. Exterior façades are of plain brick texture with framed arched opening. The central entrance was larger than the side ones which were slightly narrower and dwarfish. Both north and south facades had two arched openings. The mosque was enclosed with massive brick walls while the interior was supported by two stone columns. The western wall had three terracotta multi cusped arched mihrabs on the interior with the central one projected on the exterior. 

The mosque was partly restored and repaired by the Department of Archaeology, Bangladesh, and is now a protected monument.


Sources:

Asher, C. B. Inventory of Key Monuments. In The Islamic Heritage of Bengal, George Michell, editor. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1984.

Hasan, P. Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh. London: I. B. Tauris, 2007.

Islam, I., and Noblea, A. Mosque Architecture in Bangladesh: The Archetype and Its Changing Morphology. Journal of Cultural Geography, 17(2), 5-25, 1998.

Location

Khalifatabad area, Bagerhat, Bangladesh

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Associated Names

Associated Collections

Events

Constructed early fifteenth century

Style Periods

Dimensions

Rectangle plan of 54'2" x 41'2"

Variant Names

Reza Khoda Mosque
Alternate

Site Types

religious