BARA GUMBAD MOSQUE by SNAKEY

Photography • Architecture • posted on Nov 14, 2006

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Description

This mosque is located in Lodi Garden, New Delhi, India. Adjoining the Bara-Gumbad which is a Tomb of an ancient Ruler or the Builder of this Bara Gumbad mosque is the mosque, known as the Bara-Gumbad mosque, which appears to have been erected as an adjunct to the tomb. Built with ashlar stone, the front of its rectangular prayer-hall is faced by five arched openings, the central one sited in a projecting frame. Over the arches runs a chhajja. The three central bays of the hall are surmounted by low domes, the end-bays being covered by flat roofs. Oriel windows projecting on its north, south and on the west from the back of the minhrab bay, are features, which distinguish the early Mughal mosques. The rear corners and the side of the minhrab-projection are occupied by tapering minarets in the Tughluq style but seem to anticipate the octagonal towers of the early Mughal and Sur periods. The mosque is profusely ornamented with coloured tiles and with foliage and Quranic inscriptions wrought in incised and painted plaster. The raised platform in the centre of its courtyard is believed to have contained the grave of its builder, but is more likely to be a small tank for ablution of those offering prayers. The mosque was built in 900 A.H. (1494) during the reign of Sikandar Lodi, as seen from the inscription over the southern minhrab. It occupies an important place in the development of the Mughal mosque. The dominating position of the Bara-Gumbad and the present absence of a grave inside it has misled some scholars to believe that it was raised as a gateway to the mosque. The long hall in front of the prayer-hall appears to have been raised at a later date as a 'Mihman-Khana' or guesthouse. If you take a zoom view of this mosque image u can note down the quran inscription on the walls very clearly. :O)) SNAKEY