This dilapidated, open-air mosque is popularly known as the 'Idgah'. Inscriptions indicate that Mir Abul Qasim, the administrator of South Bengal under Governor Shah Shuja, built it. Constructed to accommodate large numbers of worshippers who gather on the occasion of Eid (Islamic festival). The need to construct an Idgah when the capital had shifted back to Rajmahal is proof of Dhaka's continued importance despite its decline in official status.
The mosque consists of a brick platform, measuring 245' x 137'. Originally the platform was enclosed, but now only the western wall or qibla wall remains standing. The qibla wall is 141' long and 15' high. A tripartite arrangement -- with three shallow, niche mihrabs on each side of a deeper, central mihrab -- marks the direction of Mecca. Above the mihrabs runs a band of horizontal cornice, topped by battlement cresting.
Sources:
Hasan, Syed Mahmudul. 1980. Muslim Monuments of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Islamic Foundation, 61.
Asher, Catherine B. 1984. Inventory of Key Monuments. Art and Archaeology Research Papers: The Islamic Heritage of Bengal. Paris: UNESCO, 56.
