Nakhoda Mosque in Kolkata
Being the city of a diverse religious and cultural population, Kolkata is the place of variety of temples and worship shrines too. From Hindu temples, churches, mosques to shrines for Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Jews to Parsis, Kolkata is the ground for all religious worships. Kolkata has a significant population belonging to the Muslim community as a result one will find numerous mosques spotted all across the city. The biggest of them all is the Nakhoda Mosque in Kolkata. The mosque was built in the year 1926 by the resident of Kutch named Abdar Rahim Osman.
The temple is located at Jacquaria Street, close to the junction of the Chitpore Road and Mahatma Gandhi Road. The grand mosque stands amidst the shadowy lane and over crowded fruit markets. The mosque is so huge that during sessions of namaz it can hold people upto the capacity of about 10,000. The temple is built in the style of Akhbar's Tomb situated at Sikandrabad and manifests Indo-Saracenic architectural brilliance. The building of the mosque has two minaret domes that are 151 feet high. The amount spent for building the mosque is about Rs. 15 lakhs.
The temple consists of a huge prayer hall, two minarets, 25 small pillers who are of the height of 100ft. to 117ft. The gateway of the mosque is built in the same style of Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri. The granite stones brought from Tolepur are used for the decoration of the mosque. The mosque has exquisite exhibitions of ornaments and other artifacts.
At present the mosque is run and maintained by a board of trustees, yet much is to be done to renovate the mosque completely. The mosque has been listed as one of the endangered historical buildings of India. A Geneva based trust named the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has showed interest to finance for the mosque renovation.
During Muslim festivals like Ramzan and Id, the mosque is magnificently decorated with neon lights and flowers where thousands of devout Muslims from all over the city assemble and attain the namaz ceremony with full reverence. Outside the mosque one will get to purchase attar which is a traditional perfume used by Muslims made up of fragrance of oils and flowers. The mosque is open for devotees from 6.00 A.M. To 8.00 P.M and can be easily commuted by busses, metros, cabs and historic tramcars.
Once you visit the mosque, you must not miss the other nearby mosques like the Hafiz Jalaluddin Mosque, Karbala Masjid and 13 mosques built by the descendants of Tipu Sultan.