Famous Mosques in Kolkata
Mosques in Kolkata came into existence
with the arrival of the Muslims in the early 19th century. Muslims made Calcutta (now Kolkata) a dwelling place for them due to
unfavorable conditions in other states of India. They came to the city and
found it suitable to live and progress with the suitable conditions hence the city has almost 450 mosques present till the day today and among mostly
of them are very important in terms of architecture and their recognition.
Some famous Mosques in Kolkata are:
Nakhoda Masjid:
The largest mosque in the city
Kolkata is Nakhoda mosque, located in Jakaria
street, near the junction of Chitpore Road and Mahatma Gandhi Road. The shrine was built in1926 by Abdul Rahim
Osman. The mosque is a unique blend of Indo- Saracomic architecture which has 2
minarets ,both are 46 metres high and 1 dome shaped with redstone, also there
are 25 tiny pillars all around which are 100 ft-117 ft tall. The mosque has a
capacity of 10000 congregation at a time to accommodate the worshippers to
perform “Namaaz”.
The gateway of the Nakhoda Mosque, Kolkata, is a replica of Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri, which required granite stones to be brought from Tolepur.The massive red sandstone mosque was constructed on the lines of Akbar's tomb in Sikandra, Agra.
Tipu Sultan Mosque:
Ghulam Mohammed, the youngest son of
Tipu Sultan is the architect of the famous Tipu Sultan Shahi Mosque. It was
built in the year of 1832 which is located in 185,Dhartamtalla Street has an extensive
Capacity of 1000 worshippers at a time. The mosque has 16 Domes and 4 Minaret
which makes the mosque unique in its way. It has been developed in typical
Islamic, Mughal architectural style.
People from all sections of society and religions are allowed to visit the
mosque and take pictures of this historical premise.