Singair Mosque

The Singair Mosque is indeed a constituent of the Mosque City of Bagerhat, located in the south-western region of Bangladesh.^[1] Positioned on the southern side of the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway, it is situated approximately 200 metres (660 ft) southeast of the Sixty Dome Mosque.^[2][3]

The Mosque lacks any inscriptions that can be used to establish its exact date of construction.^[2] Architect Abu Sayeed M Ahmed estimates that it is from the 15th century.^[4] Other experts believe, based on the known ages of stylistically similar local buildings, that it was built in the mid-15th century.^[2][5][6] There is archaeological evidence that at one time the mosque compound was surrounded by a wall with towers at the corners and an entrance gate on the east.^[5][7]

Banglapedia describes the mosque's condition in the early 1970s as "in utter ruin". The Bangladeshi Department of Archaeology took over management of the site in 1975.^[6] In 1984, archaeologist Johanna E. van Lohuizen de Leeuw wrote that the building had been partly restored, but "its corner towers are still in a shocking state".^[7] The Mosque City of Bagerhat, of which Singair Mosque is a part, was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1985.^[1] The mosque was rated as being in a "fair state of preservation" in the 2010s.^[6]

The mosque is a square, that externally measures 13.34 metres (43 ft 9 in) long and wide, while internally it has a square plan of 2.4 square metres (26 sq ft).^[8] It has a single hemispherical dome. The entirety is constructed of brick. There are three doorways in the east, and one each in the north and south.^[2] The central doorway in the east is higher and wider than the others.^[9] The exterior of the west wall has a mihrab projection from the ground to the cornice.^[5] At the four corners of the building are engaged circular towers which rise to roof level.^[2][6] The cornice is gently curved, and is 30 centimetres (12 in) higher at the center than at the ends.^[9]

The doorways are pointed archways set within rectangular recesses,^[2] at the top of which are several horizontal rows of terracotta ornamentation.^[5] The corner towers are divided horizontally at regular intervals by raised bands. The cornice has two bands decorated with terracotta.^[6]

The mosque's walls are 2.1 metres (7 ft) thick.^[5] The interior has a single mihrab in the qibla wall, on axis with the central entrance in the east. It is flanked by two decorated octagonal pilasters from which springs a multifoil arch with terracotta rosettes in the spandrels. All these are bordered by two rectangular frames, the space between which is filled with a four-petalled mesh in terracotta.^[2][9] To each side of the mihrab is a multifoil arched niche in a rectangular recess. The north and south walls each have two similar, but smaller niches.^[5][9]

Squinches spring from brick pilasters to support the base of the dome.^[2]

• 
  Singair Mosque, viewed from the Bagerhat-Khulna Highway
• 
  Wide view of the mosque
• 
  The curved cornice, characteristic of Sultanate architecture, is an indigenous form derived from village huts.^[10]
• 
  Side view of the mosque
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  The entrance of the mosque reads "Singair Mosque" (Bengali: সিঙ্গাইর মসজিদ)

• Islam in Bangladesh
• List of mosques in Bangladesh
• List of archaeological sites in Bangladesh
• List of World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh