Mosque and shrine, Mymensingh
Mymensingh Boro Masjidময়মনসিংহ বড় মসজিদ
- Time needed
- About 20 minutes.
The town's great mosque by the Brahmaputra, begun in the 1850s under a tin roof and now a three-storey hall for 5,000.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1850 (some say 1852)
- Size
- Three storeys, 105 × 85 ft
- Capacity
- About 5,000; up to 10,000 at Eid
About
The Boro Masjid began around 1850 or 1852 as a tin-roofed mosque put up by the Muslims of Chawkbazar, on the Brahmaputra at Thanar Ghat beside the Kotwali police station. It became public property under the Bengal Waqf Act in 1935, and a hafiziya madrasa was founded in its grounds in 1932.
Over the years the tin shed grew into a three-storey building 105 by 85 feet on nearly two acres of land. Each floor takes eighteen rows of worshippers, about 5,000 people at regular prayers and up to 10,000 at Eid. The main gate is on the north side, where two pools of clear water and a separate place for ablutions stand in the courtyard.
It is the centre of Islamic learning in the town, with about 1,200 students, and books on Mymensingh's history count it among the town's landmarks.
Getting there: Beside the Kotwali police station at Chawkbazar, on the river.
Things to do
- See the courtyard pools by the north gate.
- Walk down to the river at Thanar Ghat.
Good to know
- Visit outside prayer times, dress modestly, and women should cover their heads.
