Sura Mosque, Ancient mosque in Ghoraghat, Bangladesh
The Sura Mosque stands on a raised mound of earth reached from the east by a flight of steps. Its single square prayer chamber, 4.87 m across, carries one dome, and a foreroom 1.82 m wide with three smaller domes forms the east veranda; externally the building measures 8.53 by 12.5 m. The kiblah wall holds three semicircular mihrab niches with cusped arches in ornamented rectangular frames, the central one of stone, and the brick walls are faced inside with stone slabs.
The Sura Mosque has no inscription tablet, but its style links it to dated monuments of the early 16th century. An inscription of Alauddin Hussain Shah found at nearby Champatali is dated 910 AH (1504/1505 CE) and records a mosque's construction; if it refers to this building, 1504 CE is its date. It was once surrounded by high walls, a feature otherwise unknown in Bengal.
The mosque is known locally as Sura Masjid, Surma Masjid or Shuja Masjid, and it is listed as an archaeological site by the Department of Archaeology of Bangladesh. Inside, the three mihrabs of the west wall carry fine stone carving, and stone door sills sit beneath each doorway. Black and sandstone blocks are thought to have been brought from Rajmahal, at Bengal's western edge.
The mosque stands about 10 kilometres west of Ghoraghat Upazila headquarters, just beyond an old water body on the paved Ghoraghat–Hili road. It sits on a raised earthen mound and is reached from the east by a flight of steps. The site is listed as an archaeological monument by the Department of Archaeology.
The black and sandstone used here is thought to have been brought from Rajmahal, at the western edge of Bengal. The central mihrab is the largest of the three and is cut from stone, while the brick walls are faced with stone slabs inside. The mosque is listed as an archaeological site by Bangladesh's Department of Archaeology.
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