Jama Masjid (also known as both Kala Masjid and Motijheel Mosque) is a

congregational mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

located at

Motijhil Motijhil (also Motijheel, literal translation: Pearl Lake), also known as Company due to its association with the East India Company, is a horse-shoe shaped lake in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. It was created by Nawazish Muhammad Khan, the ...

, in the historic city of

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

, West Bengal, India.

Geography

Location

Jama Masjid is located at . Jama Masjid stands on the western bank of

Hazarduari Palace Hazarduari Palace, earlier known as the ''Bara Kothi'', is located in the campus of Kila Nizamat in Murshidabad, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated near the bank of river Ganges. It was built in the nineteenth century by archit ...

and its associated sites in the Kila Nizamat area (forming the central area in the map alongside) is the centre of attraction in Murshidabad. Just a little away are

Katra Masjid The Katra Masjid is a former caravanserai, mosque and the tomb of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan. It was built between 1723 and 1724. It is one of the largest caravanserais in the Indian subcontinent. It was built during the 18th century, when the ear ...

Fauti Mosque Fauti Mosque (also Phuti Mosque) is a mosque at Kumarpur in the Murshidabad-Jiaganj Community development blocks in India, CD block in the Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district in West Bengal, India. It was built by Sarfaraz Khan, Nawab Sarfa ...

, Jama Masjid and the

area. There is a group of attractions in the northern part of the town (as can be seen in the map alongside). Some attractions such as

Khushbagh Khushbagh (also spelled as Khoshbagh; literally "Garden of Happiness") is the garden-cemetery of the Nawabs of Bengal, situated on the west bank of the Bhagirathi river, about a mile from its east bank, in the Murshidabad-Jiaganj CD block in La ...

, Rosnaiganj,

Baranagar ("City of hogs") , settlement_type = City , image_seal = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , pushpin_map = India West Bengal#India3#Asia , pushpin_label_ ...

Kiriteswari Temple Kiriteswari Temple is situated in Kiritkona village under the Nabagram (community development block), Nabagram Community development blocks in India, CD block in the Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal. This is ...

Karnasuvarna Karnasuvarna or Karnasubarna was an ancient city, located in the present day Berhampore CD block in the Berhampore subdivision of Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India. Geography Location Karnasuvarna is located at . Area overview The a ...

and others are on the other side of the river and there are attractions in the neighbouring

Berhampore Berhampore (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. As of 2011 census, Berhampore urban agglomeration had a population of 305,609 and is the seventh largest city in West Bengal (after Kolkata, Asansol, Siliguri, D ...

area also (not shown in the map). Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in Murshidabad city. Most of the places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map. A few, without pages yet, remain unmarked. The map has a scale. It will help viewers to find out the distances.

Jama Masjid

History

Jama Masjid was built by Nawab Nawaei Muhammad Khan in 1750. He named it Kala Masjid and is also well known as Motijheel Mosque.

Ghaseti Begum Mehar un-Nisa Begum ( fa, ), better known as Ghaseti Begum ( bn, ঘসেটি বেগম, Ghôśeṭi Begôm), was the eldest daughter of Alivardi Khan, Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa during 1740–1758. Early life Ghaseti Begum was the ...

, the eldest daughter of Nawab Alivardi Khan, adopted Ekramulla, the son of her younger sister

Amina Begum Amina Begum ( bn, আমিনা বেগম, fa, ) was a Bengali aristocrat from the Nawab family of Bengal and mother of Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal. Early life and background Amina Begum was the youngest daughter ...

and the younger brother of

Siraj ud-Daulah Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah ( fa, ; 1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Beng ...

, and brought him up as her own son. Ekramulla died at a young age. Ghaseti Begum's husband, Nawaei Muhammad Khan, could not bear the shock and died. Both of them were buried in the Jama Masjid compound. It is said that Nawab Alivardi Khan used to come regularly to the Jama Masjid to offer prayers. According to the

List of Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal This is a list of Monuments of National Importance (ASI) as officially recognized by and available through the website of the Archaeological Survey of India in the Indian state West Bengal.

the Motijheel Jama Mosque is an ASI Listed Monument.

Structure

Jama Masjid has three domes and a three arched façade.

Banglapedia ''Banglapedia:'' ''the'' ''National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh'' is the first Bangladeshi encyclopedia. It is available in print, CD-ROM format and online, in both Bengali and English. The print version comprises fourteen 500-page volumes. The f ...

describes the mosque as being rectangular in plan and covered by three hemispherical domes. Octagonal minarets capped by bulbuous kiosks are placed in the four corners.

Jama Masjid picture gallery

File:Motijheel-Jama-Mosque-at-Murshidabad-West-Bengal.jpg, Jama Masjid File:Motijhil Jama Masjid - Lalbagh - Murshidabad 2017-03-28 5776.JPG, Jama Masjid File:Motijhil Jama Masjid Area - Lalbagh - Murshidabad 2017-03-28 5764.JPG, Jama Masjid area File:Graves of Nawazish Muhammad Khan and his adopted son Ekram ud Daulah Motijheel Murshidabad.jpg, Graves of Nawarish Muhammad Khan, Ekramulla and others

References

External links

{{Tourist attractions in Murshidabad Mosques in Murshidabad Tourist attractions in Murshidabad Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal Grand mosques