Bara Sona Masjid
Gaur, India

The Bara Sona Majid (literally, "large golden mosque") was built in 1526/932 AH by Sultan Nusrat Shah (r. ca. 1519–1532/924-938 AH). It is the largest building still standing in Gaur, a ruined city on the border of India and Bangladesh. It sits at the western side of a raised quadrangle, with eleven arched openings facing an entrance gateway and a lake. Gateways to the east and north remain, forming an open entrance courtyard. Forty-four small domes covered the interior, but only those covering a verandah to the front of the building remain. The veranda leads to a prayer hall of three by eleven bays. The mosque is built of brick, faced in plain stone with no carvings.

Sources:

Hasan, Perween. "Gaur." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed June 11, 2014, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T031051.

Husain, ABM. "Bara Sona Mosque." Banglapedia. Accessed June 11, 2014, http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/B_0319.htm.

Merklinger, Elizabeth Schotten. Sultanate architecture of pre-Mughal India, 66. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2005.

Michell, George, and Philip Davies. The Penguin guide to the monuments of India. Vol. 2, 304-305. London, England: Viking, 1989.

Location

Gaur, India

Images & Videos

Associated Names

Events

1526/932 AH

Style Periods

Dimensions

51.2 m x 23.15 m

Variant Names

Bara Sona Mosque
Variant
Sona Masjid
Variant

Site Types

religious

Materials/Techniques