Goaldi Mosque 2.42

The Goaldi Mosque is one of the few surviving medieval monuments in Sonargaon Upazila, Bangladesh.HistoryBuilt in 1705 by Abdul Hamid during the reign of Mughal emperor Arunzeb, the graceful, single-domed Goaldi Mosque is the most impressive of the few extant monuments of the old capital city, and a good example of pre-Mughal architecture. There is another mosque near it which was built in 1519.This mosque is one of the few remnants from the Sultanate period in Sonargaon, during the reign of Sultan Hussain Shah in 925 Hijri (1519AD). It was built by Mulla Hizabar Akbar Khan in the early 16th century, during the reign of Alauddin Husain Shah at a place called Goaldi - half a mile northeast of Panam village in Sonargaon. Sonargaon was the administrative center of medieval Muslim rulers of East Bengal. It became as the capital of Bengal during Isa Khan's ruling. The area falls under present-day Narayanganj District, Bangladesh. This mosque is more elegant and ornate in comparison to the earlier Sultanate mosques at Bagerhat.Architectural featuresThe Goaldi mosque is a good example of the 'enclosed square type' mosque of Bengal that is distinguished by a cubical prayer chamber with corner towers and entrances on all sides except the qibla wall. A single dome caps the mosque; engaged ribbed turrets define the four corners; and the cornice is gently sloped. Circular corner towers are a deviation from the usual octagonal corner towers. This is the only example of circular corner towers in the Dhaka district. Accentuating the cornice is a row of small niches with floral motifs inside.