Taj-ul-Masajid

Bhopal was ruled by a succession of women, the begums, through much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Shah Jahan Begum began this mosque in the 1870s on a scale meant to rival the great Mughal buildings: a courtyard of some four thousand square metres, a prayer hall with eleven arches, two eighteen-storey octagonal minarets with marble domes, and a pink sandstone facade. Funds ran out and it stood unfinished until work resumed in the 1970s and completed it in 1985. It functions as a mosque and a madrasa, and hosts a large annual gathering.

What you actually see

• The pink facade - the sandstone front with its eleven arched openings.
• The great courtyard - a tank and open space of four thousand square metres.
• The minarets - two octagonal towers with marble domes.
• The madrasa - the teaching institution occupying part of the complex.

When to go

October to March; Bhopal summers are hot. The mosque is quieter outside prayer times, and Fridays are busy. The annual Ijtema gathering fills the whole area.

Honest expectations

Non-Muslims are generally welcome outside prayer times but access to the prayer hall may be restricted. Modest dress and head covering for women are expected. Shoes are left at the entrance.

Nearby

Bhopal's old city surrounds it; Sanchi lies northeast.