Shah Shuja Mosque1

Shah Shuja Mosque1 situated at Mughaltuli on the bank of the old Gumti in Comilla town. There is no inscription that could provide information about the construction of the mosque. According to legends, shah shuja, subahdar of Bengal (1639-60) built it to commemorate his victory of Tripura.

Shah Shuja Mosque, Comilla

The mosque is rectangular in plan and measures 17.68m in length and 8.53m in breadth from outside with 1.75m thick walls. There are octagonal corner towers in all four corners of the mosque, reaching above the cornice and finishing with cupolas. The mosque has five archways, three in the eastern wall and one each at the northern and southern sides. The central archway is bigger and prominent than the flanking ones. Both sides of the archways and their upper portions are decorated with panel ornamentation.

There are three mihrabs corresponding to the three archways in the eastern wall. The central mihrab is comparatively bigger than the side ones and more attractive with the floral and geometric ornamentation. Two lateral arches divide the interior of the mosque in to three sections. The central section has outward projection towards the east and west. And in this section there are four turrets reaching above the cornice.

Three circular domes over octagonal drums cover the roof of the mosque. The middle one is bigger than the side ones. All these domes, terminate in lotus and kalasa finials. The lower portion of the cornice is decorated with merlons. The mosque has been renovated and extended several times. A stone inscription reads that Haji Imamuddin constructed the flat roofed verandah measuring 7.32m in breadth in 1882. Later the mosque was further extended and two minarets were added on two sides. [Iftekheruddin Bhuiyan]