Binat Bibi Mosque, Religious monument in Narinda, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Binat Bibi Mosque is a square, single-domed mosque in Narinda, Dhaka, with an interior measuring 12 feet (3.7 m) square and a hemispherical dome above. Its pre-Mughal features include curved cornices, battlements, octagonal corner turrets and arches on the east, north and south sides. The plastered building has modest ornamentation, and a Persian stone inscription stands north of the mosque where Bakht Binat is buried.
Built in 1454 by Bakht Binat, daughter of Marhamat, during the reign of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah, it is the earliest surviving mosque in Dhaka. The square single-domed prayer hall was later extended south, and a second dome was added around 1932. A new mihrab was built on the west side in 1962, and part of the mosque is now being demolished for a renovation that includes a 70-foot minaret.
The mosque takes its name from Musammat Bakht Binat, daughter of Marhamat, who had it built in 1457 during Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah's reign, as recorded in a Persian stone inscription on the north side where she is buried. The building is listed by the Department of Archaeology.
The mosque stands beside Hayat Bepari's Bridge in Narinda, in Dhaka South City Corporation Ward 41 under Wari Thana, at 23.711034 N, 90.418185 E. A six-storey building has been put up in front of the old mosque, and part of the mosque itself is being demolished for a renovation that adds a 70-foot minaret and takes the building from three storeys to seven, so expect building work.
The mosque was founded by a woman, Bakht Binat, which was rare for a religious building of that period in Bengal. Her name is recorded on an inscription at the site, making it one of the few mosques in the region where a woman's founding role is documented in stone.
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