Pagla Jame Mosque ( bn, পাগলা জামে মসজিদ, , Pagla Friday Mosque), known locally as Raypur Boro Moshjid, ( bn, রায়পুর বড় মসজিদ; ar, جامع رايفور الكبير, , Great Mosque of Raypur), 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''.* * * * * * * ...

in the village of Raypur, Paschim Pagla in the South Sunamganj

upazilla An ''upazila'' ( bn, উপজেলা, upôzela, lit=sub-district pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative region in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a ...

Sunamganj District Sunamganj ( bn, সুনামগঞ্জ) is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh within the Sylhet Division. History In the ancient period, Sunamganj was part of the Laur Kingdom. After the conquest of Sylhet (Kingdom of Gauiurh) ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. It lies on the banks of the Mahashing River. It was built by a local businessman called Yasin Mirza. '' The Daily Star'' has called the mosque one of the district's best tourist destinations.

History

After travelling and admiring buildings around

the subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

, in particular

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, a local businessman named Yasin Mirza decided to build a

mosque 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, ...

in his local village of Raypur. Groundbreaking took place in 1924 and construction in 1931. It took 10 years to complete. Yasin Mirza hired architects and builders from cities of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

such as

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. The main architect was Mumin Astagar, a descendant of one of the architects of the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

. During this period, Mumin was living in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

Description

It is a two-storey building. In front of the building is a large

eidgah Eidgah or Idgah, also Eid Gah or Id Gah ( fa, "site of Eid bservances; bn, ঈদগাহ; pnb, ; ur, ; hi, ईदगाह) is a term used in South Asian Islamic culture for the open-air enclosure usually outside the city (or at th ...

. There is a gate on the north side. The building has three domes.

Gallery

File:পাগলা মসজিদ, দক্ষিণ সুনামগঞ্জ.jpg, The mosque, painted in a creamy colour.

References

{{Sunamganj District Architecture in Bangladesh Islamic architecture Buildings and structures in Sylhet Division Sunamganj District Historic sites in Bangladesh Mosques in Bangladesh Mosques completed in 1941 Mosque buildings with domes