Descripción del sitio
This marker is part of an extended History of Islamic Architecture
Pandua, Bengal
Adina Masjid
1375
Tughluqid
In 1353 AD, Haji Shamsuddin Ilyas, the first independent nawab of Bengal, transferred his capital from the nearby (and now ruined) town of Gaur (32 km from Pandua) to Pandua. However, Pandua's glory was shortlived. In 1453 AD, the capital was transferred back to Gaur. Pandua's only celebrated building is the Adina Mosque.
Built by Sikandar Shah, the second sultan of the Ilyas dynasty, the Adina mosque is the only hypostyle mosque in Bengal. Similar in plan to the Great Mosque of Damascus, it is a rectangular, hypostyle structure, with an open central courtyard.
A series of secondary mihrabs runs along the whole western wall. In total, the 39 mihrabs, the minbar and other ornamentations are rigorously Islamic in their general conception but Hindu in almost all the details: small scalloped columns and plinths in the shape of lotus flowers, corbels, trilobate arches each with its sharp end cuspidated with a vase of flowers, volutes representing leaves, rhomboid lozenges and friezes of lotus petals. Along with the Hindu motifs, the interior of the mihrab niche is divided into panels containing the Islamic motif of the 'hanging lamp' commonly used in Bengal and is thought to be the visual representation of the Surah "Al-Nur", the light.
Triple-aisled south cloister viewed from southeastern corner of mosque
Interior columns
Central nave and main mihrab. The barrel vault has collapsed
One of the naves with "lamp" motif decorations.
Text and photos from Archnet.org