Legend has it that this building rose miraculously out of the ground on a quiet night several hundred years ago. To archaeologists it is a fine piece of Sultanate-era architecture; to local people it is a sign of Allah’s power. The ancient nine-domed building in Kasba village in Gournadi upazila of Barishal has become one of the most mysterious and spiritual attractions in southern Bengal.
A short way in from the Barishal-Dhaka highway, in Kasba village, stands this nine-domed mosque of reddish brick decorated with carved stone. The square building is known as a small version of the Sixty Dome Mosque in Bagerhat, a World Heritage site.
The whole structure rests on four huge pillars of touchstone and sandstone. Its north and south walls each have three arched entrances. The inner and outer walls are carved with flowers, foliage and geometric patterns. As there is no inscription, the exact date of construction is not known, but its style suggests it was built about 700 years ago during the time of the renowned Sufi saint Khan Jahan Ali (RA).
Thrilling folk tales have grown around the mosque over the ages. Local elders claim it was not built by human hands but appeared miraculously “in a single night”.
Another popular belief is that a mysterious oil once seeped from the mosque’s stone pillars, and people believed it cured incurable diseases. Drawn by that belief, people still come from far away.
But the mosque’s current caretaker, Babul Fakir, says these stories were born of people’s devotion. People once rubbed oil on the pillars themselves out of devotion, and that later came to be known by word of mouth as miraculous oil, he says.
There are endless tales about the large pond next to the mosque too. It is said that several hundred years ago, if people asked on its bank for plates and dishes for a function, they would miraculously float up from the water. But because of one person’s dishonesty or theft, that “miraculous store” closed for ever.
The Kasba mosque grounds are busy every day with hundreds of visitors and pilgrims. Some come for the archaeological heritage, others in search of spiritual peace. People fulfilling vows bring cows, goats, ducks and chickens as well as candles and incense sticks. There are good arrangements for women who come from far away to pray.
Asma Begum, who came to fulfil a vow, said with emotion: “I made a vow when my grandson was ill. Today I have brought him with me to give thanks in Allah’s house. The atmosphere here brings a strange peace to the mind.”
To historians it is a memorial of the Sultanate heritage of ancient Bengal; to ordinary people it is a special sign of the Most Merciful. This blend of history and the miraculous is what makes the “Allah’s Mosque” of Kasba village unique. It is not just a place of worship but a living record of Bengal’s folk culture and spiritual life.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report