Mosque and shrine, Shariatpur
Burirhat Jame Mosqueবুড়িরহাট জামে মসজিদ
- Time needed
- About 30 minutes.
- best months
- Nov–Feb
A mosque begun under thatch in 1907 and finished in brick by 1935, modelled on the Tipu Sultan Mosque, with colourful ceramic-chip vines inside and a 60-foot minaret.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1907; brick building complete 1935
- Domes
- 30 (6 large) since 2015
- Minaret
- 60 ft
- Capacity
- About 1,000 worshippers
About
In 1907 a Burirhat trader, Ekabbar Hossain Howlader, put up a small mosque of thatch and golpata leaves for prayer and Quran lessons. His son replaced it with tin, and then building in brick began, step by step, until the mosque took its full form in 1935. Aftab Uddin Munshi drew the plan after the Tipu Sultan Mosque; the cement came from England, other materials from Kolkata, and craftsmen from Chandpur did the wall decoration.
Inside, the walls are covered in coloured vines and leaves made from crushed ceramic, and the outer walls carry cement and ceramic terracotta-style work with marble; the walls are more than three feet thick. A single 60-foot minaret, added in the 1990s, stands by the east gate, and since the 2015 extension the mosque has 30 domes, six large. It holds about a thousand worshippers on five acres of waqf land with an Eidgah and a pond, and the district counts it among its finest mosques.
Getting there: At the south-west edge of Burirhat bazar, Rudrakar union, on the Shariatpur–Chandpur road; bus or auto from town.
Things to do
- Look closely at the ceramic-chip vines on the inner walls.
- See the 60-foot minaret by the east gate.
Good to know
- Visit outside prayer times, dress modestly and remove your shoes.
