Archaeological Installations Sura Mosque

Saturday

27th February

Hello Everyone

I'm @saany. I hope everyone is well and safe. Today I'm going to describe about Sura Mosque.

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Sura Mosque is located at Sura in Ghoraghat upazila of Dinajpur district. It is located about 11 km west of Ghoraghat ruins and about 8 km away from Ghoraghat Upazila Sadar. The mosque is built of brick and stone. There are a number of stone slabs scattered around it. Some of the stone tablets have sample panels and other designs used in small gold mosques. Ahmad Hassan Dani thinks that the mosque was built of bricks and the walls were covered with stones up to a very high level. But at present there is no sign of stone in any part of the wall. Moreover, the exterior decoration of the walls has terracotta ornaments with traditional motifs of chains and bells. If the walls had stones, it would not be possible to decorate the terracotta on top of the bricks. There is a verandah in front of this square mosque with a dome. The mosque is built on a high courtyard. A few steps from the east side up the stairs to the courtyard. The four sides of the open courtyard were surrounded by a thick wall.

At present there is a wall up to the foundation of the installation. However, from the height of the entrance on the east side, it can be inferred that the enclosure walls were also raised high enough to keep the mosque free from outside noise and noise. Such a strategy has never been seen before in any other mosque in Bengal. The Sura Mosque was built following the plan of Lotan Mosque. It has a square prayer room with a length of 4.9 meters on each side. There are octagonal pillars in all the corners, the total number of pillars is six. The cornice is curved. There are three arched entrances to the east and one each to the north and south. To the west are three ornate mihrabs. The hall is covered by a hemispherical dome. The dome rests on a squinch mounted on a pillar. There are three domes across the verandah of the mosque. These domes are placed in a pendantive manner. These domes bear a close resemblance to small gold mosques. The exterior of the building has terracotta carvings of roses and other herbs. Some designs of geometric shapes are also found. The inner mihrabs were made entirely of stone.

The central mihrab is finely carved. Chain and bell motifs, herb designs, calligraphy motifs and geometric shapes have been done quite nicely. The foundations of the domes are adorned with terracotta bricks. No inscriptions have been found here. On the basis of construction style, Ahmad Hasan Dani considers the mosque to be of Hussain Shah period. Recently, an inscription of the time of Alauddin Hussain Shah has been discovered at a place called Champatli a few miles away from this place. It mentions 910 AH (1504 AD). It mentions the construction of a mosque. If it is assumed that there is a connection between this inscription and the Sura Masjid, then the construction period of the Masjid can be considered as 1505 AD

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