Tarash's Three-Dome Mosque Stands 150 Years on the Banks of the Bhadrabati

On the banks of the Bhadrabati river in Baruhans village of Tarash upazila, Sirajganj, stands a mosque more than 150 years old, known locally as a unique specimen of architecture. The three-domed Chowdhurybari Jame Mosque still holds its striking appearance with its strong lime-and-brick-dust masonry, thick walls and Mughal-style construction. Alongside daily prayers, every Friday worshippers from far and wide join locals here for Jumu'ah prayers.

History records that in 1875 the zamindar of Baruhans, Del Mahmud Chowdhury, built the mosque in front of his own house. To the south of the mosque lie the zamindar family's old house and family graveyard. The natural surroundings of the Bhadrabati river and canals on all sides add a different dimension to the structure's beauty, drawing visitors every day.

The mosque's greatest attraction is its three domes. Beside three large minarets built on eight pillars, there are five smaller minarets. Passing through three wooden doors, visitors see the aesthetic ornamentation and carvings on the walls. The thick walls built with lime and surki and the old construction style have given the mosque a distinctive character.

Built on roughly four decimals of land, the mosque's interior is comparatively small. About 60 worshippers can pray together in three rows inside, with space for two more rows on the open veranda outside. Although there is no separate mihrab for the imam, the mosque preserves a wooden minbar from which the imam delivers the Friday sermon.

Members of the zamindar family say that although more than a century and a half has passed, the mosque's main structure has seen no major change. Some renovation work has been done at various times to enhance its beauty. They believe this effort to beautify while keeping the original structure intact is what has kept the mosque standing to this day.

For a long time, Md Khalilur Rahman of Baruhans village served as the mosque's imam. Due to illness, his son Abdus Sabur now performs the duty. The mosque's imam and khatib, Hafez Maulana Md Khabir Uddin, says he has been imam here for 31 years; on Fridays the mosque fills to the brim, and he considers it his good fortune to lead prayers at a mosque nearly 150 years old.

The mosque's muezzin is 80-year-old Abdul Latif Khandkar. His father, Daiyam Ali Khandkar, also served as muezzin at this same mosque. Generation after generation of the same family thus remains engaged in the mosque's service — proof of the emotional bond between the structure and the people of the area.

Md Shahnewaz Khan Chowdhury, grandson of zamindar Delwar Hossain Khan Chowdhury and an assistant professor at a school and college in Gurudaspur upazila of Natore, says the mosque is managed under the zamindar family's supervision. Zamindar Delwar Hossain Khan Chowdhury endowed 10 bighas of land as waqf to cover expenses including the salaries of the imam and muezzin. Many family members do not live in the area for work, but they return for occasions and annual events, he says.

Bishal Khan Chowdhury, a fourth-generation member of the zamindar family, says the mosque building looks exactly as he saw it in childhood. Apart from minor repairs, its structure has barely changed even after 150 years. Many people come every day to see the mosque and pray, and on Fridays people from far away also come here to pray, he says.

Researcher-writer Kh M Rezaul Karim, additional director of the Higher Secondary Teachers' Training Institute in Khulna, says the 150-year-old mosque survives as a silent witness to history. Its architectural style closely matches mosques built in the Mughal era, and the Bhadrabati river flowing around the zamindar house and the mosque has further enhanced the structure's beauty.

Baruhans resident Abdus Salam says the tradition of praying at this mosque, handed down from ancestors, continues today. If the government took the initiative to renovate and preserve the mosque, future generations would also get the chance to know its history and heritage. Mosque committee president Md Nasim Chowdhury and general secretary Abu Saeed Khandkar say that with government grants, necessary renovation and repair work would be possible. All in all, Tarash's three-dome mosque awaits a government initiative to preserve its heritage.