Malik Isan’s Mosque / Malik Isan’s Masjid

Malik Isan’s Mosque have two different name as Gumle Masjid and Isanpur Mosque. It is situated in Isanpur area of Ahmedabad.

History & Architecture

Isanpur mosque was built in 1520 by Malik Isan.  Malik Isan founded the Isanpur suburb of Ahmedabad. The mosque is built on raised platform which can be approached by porches on north and east side. The courtyard is square and the mosque is situated on the west side. Opposite to the mosque Maliq Isan’s tomb is situated. At the time of 2001 Gujarat earthquake the mosque was damaged and was again vandalized during 2002 Gujarat violence.

Address

Malik Isan’s Mosque, Ekta Park Society, Rajeswari Society, Isanpur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 382443

Queen’s Mosque

Queen’s Mosque in Sarangpur was built by Malik Qiwam ’ul-Mulk Sarang. He was a Rajput converted to Islam under the influence of the Sultan and later rose to the status of the Governor of Ahmadabad, in AD 1521, during the reign of Muzaffar Shah II. The Masjid probably built during the second half of the fifteenth century measures 14.56 meters by 11.13 meters on the inside and has five large domes over as many square areas in the sanctuary, entered into through fine arched gateways, the central one being large, higherand with a richly carved arch-rim; The two large-sized minars standing on either side of the centre or now unfortunately extant up to the roof only, resemble closely those of Bibi-Ki-Masjid of Rajpur. The front wall behind the minars is raised on the central portion to about 2.74 meters along a stretch of 12.80 meters but on the interior, there is only a kind of balcony to the gallery resting on pillars of normal height. This is further connected with the gallery under the central dome. The front wall has four perforated windows while on the back wall there are six, with two at the each of side walls.

The tomb is juxtaposed in front of the Masjid, as in the case of Rani Sipri’s or Sayyid ‘Uthman’s and stands on a base 22.86 meters square. The outer fringe has 21.74 meters interspace which had four pairs of coupled pillars on each face with the corner angles totally closed in stone walling while the 20.42 meters inner area was supported by squares of thirty-six, twenty-eight, twenty and twelve pillars raised to 3.96 meters height throughout up to the roof, the innermost square carrying the dome over it. This had also jali-worked screens around it with an entrance on the south side. Twenty pillars which are in the inner square and carries an upper projection has a long gallery there around the central high dome, and has also small corner domes. The two tombs in the rauda had long since been stripped of their marble veneer. While one of them is obviously of Malik Sarang, the other is usually taken to be that of his wife. In its original condition, the rauda would have been very attractive.

Address

Queen’s Mosque, Khadia, Sarangpur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380001

Swaminarayan Temple

Shri Swaminarayan Temple, which is the first temple of the Swaminarayan Sampraday in Ahmedabad.. It is located in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad. It was built on the instructions of Swaminarayan, the founder of the sect.

NarNarayan Dev Gadi and LaxmiNarayan Dev Gadi are two Gadis (seats) of Swaminarayan Sampraday. This temple is the headquarters of the NarNarayan Dev Gadi. Green and yellow sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses, their bodies fitted in opulent dress, cover the structure of this nineteenth-century temple.

Temple’s architecture based on Burma teak wood, all coloured arch and bracket have different shade,. According to Anjali Desai, who is the author of India Guide Gujarat, the temple resembles a fairytale with all its colours and opulent carvings that profusely embellish every wooden bracket, column and arch. The day after Diwali million people are attracts to the temple. The temple has a multi-story guesthouse that is air conditioned and has a fully equipped medical clinic within its compound.

History

The land for construction of Swaminarayan Temple was been given by the British Government to India. The task of constructing this temple was entrusted personally by Swaminarayan to Ananandanand Swami (a paramhansa of the sect). The installation ceremony of the murti (images) in the temple was celebrated in the presence about 50,000 of pilgrims representing many parts of India.

Address

Swaminarayan Mandir Road, Zaveriwad, Kalupur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380001

Jama Masjid / Jami Mosque

Jama Masjid also known as Jumma or Jami Mosque, built in 1424 during the reign of Ahmed Shah I. The mosque is situated outside Bhadra Fort area, along the south side of the road extending from Teen Darwaza to Manek Chowk.

The Jama Masjid was the largest mosque in the Indian subcontinent built. Designed as part of a major plan desired by the Emperor Sultan Ahmed Shah, the mosque is located south of the processional axis that runs from the Maidan-i Shah at the door with three arches, Teen Darwaja.

The Tombs of Ahmed Shah I, his son and his grandson, Ahmed Shah’s Tomb are at the west of the mosque . Nearby are the graves of the queens and the other wives of the king, Rani no Hajiro.

Architecture

Mosque complex is centered on a large rectangular courtyard 75 m long and 66 m wide built with yellow sandstone. One enters the court by three entrances, one at the center of each side.The Courtyard is lined on three sides with a colonnade , the prayer hall occupies the fourth (east) side. Rectangular basin for ablutions is situated in the center of the courtyard.

Prayer room is also covered by four domes and rectangular. In its Indo-Saracenic architecture, the mosque also contains many syncretic elements not necessarily obvious to the viewer: Some central domes which are carved like lotus flowers and closely related to the domes of Jain temples. Some of the pillars are carved in the form of a hanging bell and in reference to the bells that often hang in Hindu temples. The wide open courtyard, floored with white marble, is ringed by a colonnade painted with giant Arabic calligraphy, and has a tank for ritual ablutions in the center. For supporting the roof there were over 260 columns in the main prayer hall , with its 15 domes, making a walk through the hall a beautiful maze of light and shadows. The Wall of Prayer, the qibla is decorated. Pierced stone screens (the ‘Jalis’) are placed between the two pillars of the central openings. Two columns which are framed the main entrance, and other remains columns of two minarets which were destroyed in the earthquakes of 1819 and 1957.

Address

Jama Masjid, Manek Chowk, Gandhi Road, Danapidth, Khadia, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380001

Sidi Saiyyed Mosque

The Sidi Saiyyed Mosque, popularly known as Sidi Saiyyed ni Jali locally, built in 1572 AD, is one of the most famous mosques of Ahmedabad. As attested by the marble tablet fixed on the wall of the mosque, it was built by Sidi Saiyyed in the retinue of Bilal Jhajar Khan, general in the army of the last Sultan Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar Shah III of the Gujarat Sultanate.

The mosque was built in the last year of the existence of Sultanate of Gujarat. The mosque is entirely arcuated and is famous for beautifully carved ten stone latticework windows (jalis) on the side and rear arches. The rear wall is filled with square stone pierced panels in geometrical designs. The two bays flanking the central aisle have reticulated stone slabs carved in designs of intertwined trees and foliage and a palm motif. This intricately carved lattice stone window is the Sidi Saiyyed Jali, the unofficial symbol of city of Ahmedabad and the inspiration for the design of the logo of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

The central window arch of the mosque, where one would expect to see another intricate jali, is instead walled with stone. This is possibly because the mosque was not completed according to plan before the Mughals invaded Gujarat.

Address

Sidi Saiyyed Mosque, Opposite Electricity House Gheekanta, Lal Darwaja,  Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380001

Sarkhej Roza

Sarkhej Roza is a mosque and complex tomb which is 7 km south-west of Ahmedabad situated in the village of Makarba.

There were many Roza’s across Gujarat, the Sarkhej Roza is the most revered. Sarkhej was once a prominent centre of Sufi Culture in the country, where influential Sufi saint Shaikh Ahmed Ganj Baksh lived. It was on the saint’s suggestion that Sultan Ahmed Shah set up his capital on the banks of the Sabarmati, a few miles away from Sarkhej.

Monuments

The architecture of the complex is credited to Azam and Muazzam Khan; two Persian brothers who are buried in the tomb near Vasna, Ahmedabad. The complex was originally spread over 72 acres, surrounded by elaborate gardens on all sides. Over time, human settlements came around it, eating into the gardens and reducing the area to 34 acres.

Shaikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Bakhsh of Anhilwad Patan, the friend and adviser of Ahmad Shah I, retired to Sarkhej in his later life and died here in 1445. In his honour a tomb, begun in 1445 by Muhammad Shah II, was, in 1451, finished by his son Qutbuddin Ahmad Shah II. The next Sultan Mahmud Begada was fond of the place and expanded the complex greatly. He dug a large Sarkhej lake, surrounded it with cut stone steps, built on its south-west corner a splendid palace, and finally, opposite to the Ganj Baksh’s tomb, raised a mausoleum for himself and his family, where he, his son Muzaffar Shah II and his queen Rajbai are buried.

Entering the covered eastern gateway on the north bank of the Sarkhej lake, the building to the right with a handsome stone pavilion in front of it, is the mausoleum of Shaikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Bakhsh. This, the largest of its kind in Gujarat, has along its whole length its sides filled with stone trellis work, and inside, round the tomb, has a beautifully cut open metal screen. Across the courtyard on the left are two mausoleums with a connecting porch, the east mausoleum containing the tombs of Mahmud Begada, and of his son Saltan Muzaffar II, and the west, the tomb of Rajabai, Muzaffar’s queen. Beyond the Ganj Bakhsh mausoleum is a courtyard, covering more than an acre of ground, surrounded by cloisters, with a mosque only slightly smaller than the Jama mosque. The want of minarets and the shallowness of its caves rather mar the outside effect. But inside ‘it is the perfection of simple grace unrivaled in India except by the Moti mosque at Agra.’ Looking across the lake the ruined buildings at the south-west corner are Mahmud Begada’s palace and harem. The Sarkhej lake covers 17 acres. Oblong in shape, it is surrounded by flights of stone steps, and has a most richly decorated supply sluice.

Besides the chief group of remains, the country round is studded with mosques and other old buildings. A little to the south of the lake is a small ugly whitewashed tomb, the burial place of Baba Ali Sher, a saint held in higher respect even than Ganj Bakhsh. Close by are the remains of Fatehwadi or Victory Garden, laid out in 1584 by Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana (1583-1590) to mark his defeat of Muzaffar Shah III, the last of the Gujarat Sultanate. In the 17th century Sarkhej was so famous for its indigo that in 1620 the Dutch established a factory in the village.

Architecture

The Sarkhej Roza complex has been interpreted as being composed of both ‘jism'(body) and ‘ruh'(spirit), giving it the qualities of a human being.

Like many monuments built during that period, the Sarkhej Roza fused both non-Indian and Indian principles of architecture. While the ringed domes, the profusion of pillars and brackets can be claimed to follow the Islamic west asian genre (even though they can also be found in Indian architecture itself since much before), much of the ornamentation and motifs have Indian Hindu designs. Most of the buildings do not have arches and depend on pierced stone trellises for stability. In its architecture, Sarkhej Roza is an example of the early Islamic architectural culture of the region, which fused Islamic stylistic influences from Persia with Indian Hindu and Jain features to form a composite Indo-Saracenic architectural style. The mosque, with its courtyard, creates a religious milieu; the royal connection is made through the tombs and palaces; the great tank, platforms and pavilions were used by the common man.

The complex is called “Acropolis of Ahmedabad”, due to 20th century architect Le Corbusier’s comparison of this complex’s design to the Acropolis of Athens.

Address

Sarkhej Roza, Post Jeevraj Park, Sarkhej Makarba Road, Makarba, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380051

Hutheesing Jain Temple

Hutheesing Temple (Gujarati: હઠીસિંહનાં દેરા) is the best known Jain Temple in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was constructed in 1848.

History

The construction of the temple was initiated originally planned by Shet Hathisinh Kesarisinh, a wealthy Ahmedabad trader who died at 49. The construction was supervised and completed by his wife Shethani Harkunvar. The total cost was approximately Rs. 8 lakh. , then a major sum. The temple is dedicated to Dharmanatha, the fifteenth Jain Tirthankar.Lockwood de Forest who was a business associate of Muggenbhai Hutheesing, the son of Sheth Hathisinh, estimated the cost as “over a million dollars“. The temple was built during a severe famine in Gujarat. Building the temple employed hundreds of skilled artisans which supported them for a period of two years.The temple is managed by a Hutheesing family trust.

Address

Hutheesing Jain Temple, Shahibaug Rd, Bardolpura, Madhupura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380004