| Dariyapur Mosque stands in the
village of Dariyapur, about three miles southwest of the pirganj
upazila headquarters in Rangpur district. Constructed by a
nobleman in 1717-18 AD, the building stands on the western side of a large
tank and is enclosed by an outer wall with a gateway in the east. The
mosque was seriously damaged in the earthquake of 1897. The four corner
towers fell down and serious cracks developed in the domes. Consequently
the local people repaired the building when the corner towers were omitted.
In the recent past the building has been thoroughly restored and as a
result many of the original features have disappeared.
A rectangular building
in the usual late Mughal fashion, the mosque is provided with three
arched doorways in the east. Of them the central doorway is bigger
and shows a projected fronton. Each of the side walls is pierced
with an arched window. |
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Dariyapur Mosque, Rangpur |
The qibla wall is internally recessed with three
semi-octagonal arched mihrabs, which are contained within rectangular
frames topped by a frieze of blind merlons. Like the central doorway the
central mihrab had originally an outward rectangular projection, traces
of which still remain. Both these projections of the central doorway and
mihrab were originally flanked with ornamental turrets, a common architectural
feature of the time.
The interior of the mosque is divided into three equal
square bays by two east-west wide arches springing from brick pilasters.
Each of the bays, measuring 3.73m square, is covered with a hemispherical
dome on an octagonal drum. The upper angles, just below the drums of the
domes, are filled with beautiful Bengali pendentives.
The whole building, both inside and outside is now plastered
with modern cement. All the domes are crowned with the usual lotus and
kalasa finials. The horizontal parapet is faced with a row of blind
merlons. To the right and left of the mihrabs are a pair of rectangular
panels decorated with small trees with flowers. Above the rectangular
frame of the central mihrab there is a shallow rectangular panel, flanked
on either side by rosettes. All these ornamental motifs appear to be original
and are executed in stucco. [MA Bari]
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