Star Mosque

The Tara Masjid was built in the early nineteenth century and remade in the 1920s by a local businessman who covered it in chinitikri, a mosaic technique using broken china pressed into plaster, and the result is unlike any other mosque in the region: stars in blue and white across the domes and facade, floral panels, and, incongruously, several panels showing Mount Fuji, made from imported Japanese crockery that happened to be what was available. The interior is covered in the same work. Three domes were extended to five in a later enlargement. It stands in a dense lane in Armanitola and is a working mosque, small and easily missed from the street.

History

A local nobleman, Mirza Ghulam Pir, who died in 1860, built the mosque in the first half of the 19th century, and it was first known by his name. In 1926 the businessman Ali Jan Bepari renovated it, adding the stars and other motifs that gave it its present name, Tara Masjid, the Star Mosque (Wikipedia, Star Mosque).

What to look for

• Chinitikri mosaic in broken china - stars and floral panels over every surface.
• Mount Fuji panels - Japanese crockery worked into a Dhaka mosque.
• Five domes - the extension of the original three.
• A covered interior - the same mosaic technique carried inside.

When to go

November to March, outside prayer times. One hour. Friday midday is not a time for visitors. Modest dress and shoes off; women should ask before entering.

Good to know

It is small and twenty minutes covers it. It is a working mosque and access depends on prayer times and on who is at the door. The lane outside is congested. There is no interpretation.

Nearby

Ahsan Manzil is south; Lalbagh Fort lies south-west.

Key facts