Singar Mosque

The Singar Mosque (Bengali: সিঙ্গাইর মসজিদ)^{[note 1]} is a 15th-century Sunni mosque that forms a part of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site in the southwestern Khulna Division of Bangladesh. The mosque is characterized by its single-domed, square structure constructed with exposed brick and adorned with terracotta decorations.

The Singar Mosque is indeed a constituent of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, located in the south-western region of Bangladesh.^[1] Positioned on the southern side of the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway, it is situated approximately 200 metres (660 ft) southeast of the Sixty Dome Mosque.^{[2] [3]}

The Singar Mosque lacks any inscriptions that can be used to establish its exact date of construction.^[2] Architect Abu Sayeed M Ahmed estimates that it is from the 15th century.^[4] Other experts believe, based on the known ages of stylistically similar local buildings, that it was built in the mid-15th century.^{[2] [5] [6]} There is archaeological evidence that at one time the mosque compound was surrounded by a wall with towers at the corners and an entrance gate on the east.^{[5] [7]}

Banglapedia describes the mosque's condition in the early 1970s as "in utter ruin". The Bangladeshi Department of Archaeology took over management of the site in 1975.^[6] In 1984, archaeologist Johanna E. van Lohuizen de Leeuw wrote that the building had been partly restored, but "its corner towers are still in a shocking state".^[7] The Mosque City of Bagerhat, of which Singair Mosque is a part, was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1985.^[1] The mosque was rated as being in a "fair state of preservation" in the 2010s.^[6]

The mosque is a square, that externally measures 13.34 metres (43 ft 9 in) long and wide, while internally it has a square plan of 2.4 square metres (26 sq ft).^[8] It has a single hemispherical dome. The entirety is constructed of brick. There are three doorways in the east, and one each in the north and south.^[2] The central doorway in the east is higher and wider than the others.^[9] The exterior of the west wall has a mihrab projection from the ground to the cornice.^[5] At the four corners of the building are engaged circular towers which rise to roof level.^{[2] [6]} The cornice is gently curved, and is 30 centimetres (12 in) higher at the center than at the ends.^[9]

The doorways are pointed archways set within rectangular recesses,^[2] at the top of which are several horizontal rows of terracotta ornamentation.^[5] The corner towers are divided horizontally at regular intervals by raised bands. The cornice has two bands decorated with terracotta.^[6]

The mosque's walls are 2.1 metres (7 ft) thick.^[5] The interior has a single mihrab in the qibla wall, on axis with the central entrance in the east. It is flanked by two decorated octagonal pilasters from which springs a multifoil arch with terracotta rosettes in the spandrels. All these are bordered by two rectangular frames, the space between which is filled with a four-petalled mesh in terracotta.^{[2] [9]} To each side of the mihrab is a multifoil arched niche in a rectangular recess. The north and south walls each have two similar, but smaller niches.^{[5] [9]}

Squinches spring from brick pilasters to support the base of the dome.^[2]

• Singair Mosque, viewed from the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway
  Singair Mosque, viewed from the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway
• The curved cornice, characteristic of Sultanate architecture, is an indigenous form derived from village huts.[10]
  The curved cornice, characteristic of Sultanate architecture, is an indigenous form derived from village huts.^[10]

• Islam in Bangladesh
• List of mosques in Bangladesh
• List of archaeological sites in Bangladesh
• List of World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh

• Media related to Singar Mosque at Wikimedia Commons

• 15th-century mosques in Bangladesh
• Bengal Sultanate mosques
• Indo-Islamic mosques
• Mosque buildings with domes in Bangladesh
• Mosques in Bagerhat
• World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh

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