Katra Mosque of India, a Prominent Structure in Architecture + Photos ۱۱:۰۹ - ۱۳۹۳/۰۶/۲۶

Katra Mosque of India, a prominent structure in architecture + photos ۱۱:۰۹ - ۱۳۹۳/۰۶/۲۶ The Katra Masjid (also known as Katra Mosque) is a mosque and the tomb of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan built between 1723 and 1724. It is located in the north eastern side of the city of Murshidabad, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the north eastern side of the city of Murshidabad, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Its importance lies not only as a great centre of Islamic learning but also for the tomb of Murshid Quli Khan, who is buried under the entrance staircase. The most striking feature is the two large corner towers having loopholes for musketry. At present it is maintained and protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and the Government of West Bengal. Close to the mosque was a bazaar (market) and Katra means bazaar while Masjid means mosque. So the total sums up to: Katra Masjid or Market Mosque, a mosque in a market. * Stony inscription written in Persian language which means: "Muhammad, the glory of both worlds’’ Features: The mosque stands on a square plinth. It is a brick built mosque and is surrounded by double storied domed cells, which were built for those who read the Holy Quran in those days, they can also be called a Madrasa. All the rooms can in all accommodate 700 Quran readers. These rooms from a cloister to the huge courtyard in front of these rooms. Four big minars stand at the four corners. These are octagonal in plan and taper upwards. The two towers or the minarets in front of the mosque are 70 feet high and 25 feet in diameter. The whole mosque is quadrangular in shape, the whole mosque has no pillar support but it has been given support by a raised platform below the mosque or by several arches. The mosque has however been destroyed in the 1897 earthquake. Each minar has a winding staircase which leads to the top, one can see a major part of the city of Murshidabad from there. At the two ends of the mosque, two miratets measuring 70 feet high, are still existing to date in a dilapidated condition, they had domes which were destroyed in the 1897 earthquake. In 1780 AD, a traveller name William Hodges wrote that 700 Quran readers lived there in the mosque. Hodges in his book Select Views of India describes it as "a grand seminary of Musalman learning, adorned by a mosque which rises high above all the surrounding buildings". The entrance to the mosque is by fourteen flight of stairs from the east, Nawab Murshid Quli Khan has been buried under these stairs. It has been done so as per the Nawab's wish who was repentant for the misdeeds committed by him and ordered this out of humility. He wanted to be buried in such a place where he could be trodden and could get the foot prints and the touch of the feet of the noble men who climb those stairs and enter the mosque. So since the year 1725 when he died his mortal remain buried under the stairs. In the mosque there is a slab embedded at the top where it is written in Persian which means: "Muhammad, the glory of both worlds’’ Please Click Here to see photos ﮐﻠﯿﻪ ﺣﻘﻮﻕ ﻣﺘﻌﻠﻖ ﺑﻪ ﭘﺎﯾﮕﺎﻩ ﺗﺨﺼﺼﯽ ﻣﺴﺠﺪ ﻣﯽ ﺑﺎﺷﺪ. .

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