The Madina Mosque is a mosque in the Nizamat Fort Campus in

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 West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. There are two Madina

mosques A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

in the fort campus, the old one built by Nawab

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 ...

during the 18th century.and the new one by Nawab

Mansur Ali Khan Nawab Sayyid Mansur Ali Khan (29 October 1830 – 4 November 1884) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1838 until his abdication in 1880, whereupon he renounced his titles and position as Nawab. During his reign, he instituted various policies in th ...

in 1847. The old mosque was a part of the old

Nizamat Imambara The Nizamat Imambara ( bn, নিজামত ইমামবাড়া) is a Shia Muslim congregation hall (''imambara'') in Murshidabad, India. It was built in 1740 AD by Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah and rebuilt in 1847 by Nawab Mansur Ali Khan ...

, built by Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, which was partially burnt in a fire in 1842 but was completely burnt when it caught fire on 23 December 1846. The old Madina mosque survived the 1846 fire and was left in its place. When Nawab

built the present Nizamat Imambara in 1847, he built another Madina Mosque inside the new building. So Madina or Madina Mosque refer to both the mosques. Both of them lie parallel to the

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 ...

's south face on the banks of the

Bhagirathi River The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu fa ...

. The old one lies a little south to the new one and on the west of the clock tower and just beside the place where the

Bacchawali Tope ''Bacchawali Tope'' (literal translation: The cannon which induces child birth) is a cannon which lies in the '' Nizamat Fort Campus'' on the garden space between the Nizamat Imambara and the Hazarduari Palace and to the east of the old Madina Mos ...

rests.

History and features

Old Medina Masjid - Hazarduari Complex - Nizamat Fort Campus - Murshidabad 2017-03-28 6334

The old mosque constructed by Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, and soil from

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

was brought which was mixed with its foundation, so that it could provide an opportunity to the poorer members of the local Muslim community to have an experience of

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

, one of the

five pillars of Islam The Five Pillars of Islam (' ; also ' "pillars of the religion") are fundamental practices in Islam, considered to be obligatory acts of worship for all Muslims. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel. The Sunni and Shia agree on ...

. Constructed primarily of wood, the old Imambara was damaged by fire in 1842 before being completely destroyed by a second fire in 1846. However the old Madina mosque survived the fire. The old mosque is smaller compared to the one built by Nawab Nasur Alikhan and is single domed. The present Imambara was constructed in 1847 under the supervision of Sadeq Ali Khan. Within this Imambara lies the new Madina mosque. The new mosque is built on a raised platform decorated with ornamental china tiles, and the foundation contains soil from

Karbala Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...

. It is said that in the past, fountains stood between the ''Memberdalan'' and the Madina Mosque, encircling the shrine. The arches and the walls of the mosque are ornamented with texts from the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

Maps

References

External links

Images of Nizamat Imambara
on

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...

{{Murshidabad topics Islamic rule in the Indian subcontinent Indo-Islamic architecture Mosques in Murshidabad Tourist attractions in Murshidabad Religious buildings and structures completed in 1847 19th-century mosques 1847 establishments in British India