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