Saat Masjid
| Sat Gambuj Mosque | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Basic information | |
| Location | Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Affiliation | Islam |
| Branch/tradition | Sunni |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Mosque |
| Architectural style | Islamic |
| Date established | Late 17th Century |
| Dome(s) | 7 |
Sat Gambuj Mosque (Bengali: সাত গম্বুজ মসজিদ; Sat Gombuj Mosque or Seven Domed Mosque) is located near the north-western outskirts of Dhaka in the Jafarbad area. The mosque illustrates a fine example of the provincial mughal style of architecture introduced in Bangladesh in the 17th Century. The mosque's most notable features are its seven bulbous domes crowning the roof and covering the main prayer hall. Probably erected by Governor Shaista Khan, the monument stands in a romantic setting on a buttressed 15'-0" high bank overlooking an extensive flood plain.
A few kilometers to the north of Peelkhana, for long the end of Mughal Dhaka, was the Jafarbad or Katasur area, originally part of mouza Sarai Begumpur; many of the mouzas or revenue circles were delineated during the reign of Shershah and later by Kartalab Khan. A small urban settlement on record on a route along the river, this was an alternative to reach Brahmaputra or Garh Jaripa without having to go through the hostile areas along the main stream of Sitalakhya and Brahmaputra on the east. This is evident from its geographic and strategic location, origin of the names of the locality and the remnants around it. The place where the seven-domed mosque is was variously known as Sarai Jafarbad or Katasur, under Sarai Begumpur. There was a small agricultural community in between Pilkhana and Jafarbad where the Sat Gambuj Mosque was built. The area in course of time became like a jungle due to disuse, dereliction and desertion mainly during the British period. However, in last 55 years it has become one of the most planned and most expensive residential enclaves of Dhaka. The Sat Masjid Road is the major peripheral road of the district to its west, and believed to have been built roughly along where the old Bank river Turag was.
Picturesquely situated on the edge of a river, the Sat Gambuj Mosque in its exterior is the most innovative of all the Dhaka Mughal-period monuments. The north and south ends of this three-domed rectangular mosque are each marked by two enormous double-storied corner pavilions; when viewed from the east these give the impression that the mosque has five exterior bays. On the east are three cusped entrances arches flanked by shallow niches. Slender engaged columns with bulbous bases demarcate the central bay. As seen as the Lalbagh Fort Mosque, although this mosques's colonettes are more prominent. Its interior compares favourably with that of others dating to the second half of the seventeenth century. The central mihrab has two rows of cusping, and its surface is embellished with moulded plaster relief, recalling the ornateness of the mihrab in the mosque of Haji Khwaja Shahbaz.
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