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The Alamgir Mosque,
The mosque is architecturally a blend of Islamic and Hindu architecture. The mosque has high domes and minarets. Two of its minarets were damaged; one minaret collapsed killing a few people and the other was officially brought down owing to stability concerns. The Panchaganga Ghat where the mosque is situated is where five streams are said to join. In October lamps are lighted on top of a bamboo staff as a mark of guidance to the ancestors.
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
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, Aurangzeb's Mosque, is situated in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
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Location
The mosque is located at a prominent site above the Panchaganga Ghat. The ghat has broad steps that go down to theGanges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
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Aurangzeb built a mosque 1669 and named it as Alamagir Mosque in the name of his own honorific title "Alamgir", which he had adopted after becoming the emperor of the Mughal empire.
The minarets couldn't withstand the test of time and in the 19th century, an English scholar James Prinsep
James Prinsep FRS (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and B ...
had to restore them. In 1948 one of the minarets collapsed killing a few people around the time of the floods. Later the government pulled down the other minaret due to security reasons.
Features
The mosque is architecturally a blend of Islamic and Hindu architecture. The mosque has high domes and minarets. Two of its minarets were damaged; one minaret collapsed killing a few people and the other was officially brought down owing to stability concerns. The Panchaganga Ghat where the mosque is situated is where five streams are said to join. In October lamps are lighted on top of a bamboo staff as a mark of guidance to the ancestors.
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* {{Mosques in India Mosques in Uttar Pradesh Religious buildings and structures converted into mosques Tourist attractions in Varanasi 17th-century mosques Religion in Varanasi