Sultanpur Mosque, Gazipur

Sultanpur Mosque, Gazipur is located in the village of Sultanpur on the right bank of the old Brahmaputra under Kapasia upazila in Gazipur district. It is about 2km southwest of sadi mosque, situated at Egarosindhur. The mosque was in utter ruins but the local people have repaired it completely. However, the repairs have made the mosque lose much of its original features. A flat masonry veranda was added on the east.

The mosque, built in brick and covered all over with plaster, is square in plan, 4.88m a side. The four exterior angles of the building are emphasised with octagonal towers, which extend beyond the horizontal parapets and terminate in cupolas with kalasa finial. The mosque is entered through three axial arched doorways - one each on the north, south and east sides. In the axis of the eastern doorway there is a semi-octagonal mihrab inside the qibla wall which has a rectangular projection outside. There is an additional cusped arch on decorated engaged brick pillars in the eastern doorway and the mihrab, exactly as in the nearby Sadi Mosque. Both the mihrab and the eastern doorway were originally embellished with terracotta decorations, traces of which are still visible. The mosque is roofed over with a single dome, which is crowned with a lotus and kalasa finial. The dome is carried on four blocked arches over the doorways and the mihrab. The upper angles in between these arches are filled with sultanate Bengali pendentives.

The mosque does not have any inscription to determine the exact date of its erection. Stylistically, however, it compares well with the nearby Sadi Mosque (1652). A date in the middle of the 17th century may be suggested for it. [MA Bari]