Goaldi Mosque

The Goaldi mosque was built in 1519 during the Hussain Shahi period and is one of the few surviving buildings from the pre-Mughal sultanate of Bengal in this area, a small square brick structure with a single dome on squinches, engaged octagonal corner towers, and a curved cornice that is the signature of Bengali sultanate architecture, taken from the shape of a thatched village roof. Inside, three mihrabs in the west wall carry carved stone and terracotta decoration with rosettes and hanging lamp motifs. It stands alone among fields and trees near the Panam Nagar street, and it is small, plain outside and easily missed, with no ticket and no staff.

History

Mulla Hizabar Akbar Khan built the mosque in 1519, in the reign of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah, at Goaldi, half a mile north-east of Panam in Sonargaon, a mint town of the Bengal Sultanate and often its royal capital and the main administrative centre of eastern Bengal. Before Bangladesh's Directorate of Archaeology restored it in 1975, the dome and most of the south, east and north walls had fallen, leaving only the western qibla wall standing (Wikipedia, Goaldi Mosque).

What's there

• A curved Bengali cornice - the roof line taken from thatched village building.
• Terracotta and stone mihrabs - the carved decoration in the west wall.
• A single dome on squinches - the structural solution of the sultanate period.
• Engaged corner towers - the octagonal turrets at the angles.

When to go

November to March. One hour, combined with the Sonargaon museum and Panam Nagar. It is unstaffed and open. Mornings are cooler for the walk out.

What to expect

It is very small and twenty minutes covers it. There is no interpretation, no ticket and no staff. It is easy to miss among the fields. Access is on foot or by rickshaw from the museum.

Nearby

Panam Nagar and the folk art museum are a short walk south.

Key facts