17th century mosque on the verge of ruination

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A 17th century mosque in Kaharol upazila of Dinajpur decorated with terracotta plaques is on the verge of becoming a ruin due to high salinity and lack of maintenance.

According to sources in the Department of Archaeology, the Nayabad Mosque cannot be maintained and taken care of properly as there is a shortage of funds.

They said high salinity and poor maintenance are causing erosion of the ornamental plaques and the walls of the ancient Nayabad Mosque, one of important archaeological sites in the country.

Built in the early 17th century, the mosque lost much of its charm and the beauty of the terracotta. Locals and thieves took away many of the bricks and plaques from the walls of the mosque.

The terracotta plaques bear images of religious events but the walls, pillars and rooms are almost in ruins. A few locals built houses and cultivated crops on the land adjacent to the mosque without any resistance from the authorities concerned.

According to a local historian, King Prannath built the mosque in 1685AD for the Muslims of his state. It is he who built the renowned Kantanagar Temple in Dinajpur, another important archaeological site of the country.

High salinity coupled with lack of maintenance have already eroded a large number of the terracotta plaques, said Mozibar Rahman, the Imam of the mosque.

The Department of Archaeology only recently set up a notice board that says it is a government property and legal actions would be taken if anybody harmed the mosque. However, no initiatives were ever taken to restore the mosque or to protect the structure, locals said.

Local historian of Dinajpur Md Mehrab Ali said the mosque has one of the most beautiful and extraordinary terracotta plaques in Bangladesh but now many of them have been stolen.

During a visit to the site, The Daily Star correspondent found that most of the terracotta plaques have eroded or have been stolen and the rest are in dilapidated condition.

The mosque remains rarely visited as the road communication to the site is poor. The mosque is only three kilometres away from Kantanagar temple but has no tarmac road leading up to it, discouraging visitors to go there. The grave of Kalu Miah, head architect of the Nayabad Mosque, is beside the mosque.

Officials at the Department of Archaeology said there was a proposal was made long ago to renovate the mosque but there has been no initiatives due to lack of funds. Sources say it is possible to check the erosion and restore to some extent the glory of the mosque if funds are made available.

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