Jami Masjid – one of the biggest & magnificent mosques i have ever been to…
A picture speaks a thousand words…so they say. What if the picture has words of great importance, words telling the reader, a history of some 600 years! Read the pictures below for more information on Jami Masjid.
I respectfully removed my shoes and walked into the mosque’s courtyard. A long pillared corridor runs along the courtyard’s perimeter with the Mosque on my right hand side, in the direction of the holy city. One can only guess how beautiful is this mosque from the inscriptions on the stones, found outside the mosque(refer picture above). The words hardly justify what you witness inside.
The mosque is huge & grand. It had 300 of this slender, beautifully carved pillars (pictured above) holding 15 domes (pictured below) of this mosque, for almost 600 years. As i stood at the entrance of the mosque, all i could see was pillars, it was more like a labyrinth.
The walls of this mosque displayed superior craftsmanship of yester year, questioning us on the direction of our evolution. Have we really bettered ourselves over these years or…?
I was too exhausted & a bit worried whether i would offend anyone by entering the mosque. I took a step back to click some pictures of the mosque, none of them was good enough to give my reader a clear view of this grand monument (thanks to the Sun shining from the West).
If you look closely, you can see the walls of the third floor with carved stone panels to let air & light seep in. The carvings on the main pillar is intrinsic, the details so minutely specific.
As i retraced my steps back to the Northern gate, the mosque looked more like a fort, standing tall among the dense pols of Old Ahmedabad’s population…determined to stand tall, whatever it takes.
I turned around to see a kid fly a kite inside the courtyard of this mosque, as if to remind me the purpose of my visit…but then Kites festival was no more my priority, my quest for Amdavad was more interesting & informative than the age old tradition of flying kites on Uttarayan. I never ever thought that Ahmedabad…or more precisely, Amdavad will be a treasure of history, culture & knowledge. The kid was still flying the kite as i walked away…soon i shall meet a very important gate of Amdavad.
PS:
As i walked out of the mosque, i was relieved to see my shoes waiting for me at the steps. While putting it on, there was a wet sensation on my toes…some mischief-monger had left sweet & sour tamarind sauce for my tired feet (inside the shoes).
You should have seen me walking in search of a public water-tap. on one leg with the shoe in my hand. – some sour experiences which comes in the package, only to make you laugh when you think about it later.
This post is in continuation to Chalo Patang Udaane – in search of Amdavad (III)
Read the next part of the Amdavad series here: Chalo Patang Udaane – in search of Amdavad (V) at Teen Darwaja
Some other blogs (some better than mine) on Jami (also known as Jama) Masjid of Amdavad:
- Jumma Masjid (Jama Masjid) Ahmedabad, Part – I by Sonali Dalal
- Wandering through Ahmedabad-1: Jama Masjid from K’s Street Journal\
- Jama Masjid – Ahmedabad by Casy
- The 15th Century Jama Masjid Mosque a video by Sheila Simkin