Alamgir Mosque

Alamgir Mosque, Varanasi Aurangzeb's Mosque
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Functional
Location
Location	Varanasi, India
State	Uttar Pradesh
Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
Geographic coordinates	25°18′55″N 83°01′04″E
Architecture
Founder	Aurangzeb

The Alamgir Mosque or Aurangzeb's Mosque is a mosque in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Location

The mosque is located at a prominent site above the Panchaganga Ghat. The ghat has broad steps that go down to the Ganges.

Aurangzeb conquered Varanasi in 1669 and destroyed the bindu madhav temple in 1673 and built the Alamgir mosque on the ruins of the temple and named it Alamagir Mosque, in the name of his own honoury title "Alamgir", which he had adopted after becoming the emperor of the Mughal empire.

The minarets could not withstand the test of time and in the 19th century, an English scholar James Prinsep had to restore them. In 1948 one of the minarets collapsed killing a few people around the time of the floods. Later the government pulled down the other minaret due to security reasons.

Features

Aurangzeb Mosque or Alamgir Mosque

The mosque is architecturally a blend of Islamic and Hindu architecture. The mosque has high domes and minarets. Two of its minarets were damaged; one minaret collapsed killing a few people and the other was officially brought down owing to stability concerns. The Panchaganga Ghat where the mosque is situated is where five streams are said to join. In October lamps are lighted on top of a bamboo staff as a mark of guidance to the ancestors.

Interior view

References

Bibliography

• Betts, Vanessa; McCulloch, Victoria (27 September 2013). India – The North: Forts, Palaces, the Himalaya Dream Trip. Footprint Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-907263-74-3.
• Crowther, Geoff; Raj, Prakash A.; Wheeler, Tony (1984). India, a Travel Survival Kit. Lonely Planet.
• Dunlop, Fiona; Sykes, Carol; Jackson, Felicity (2001). Fodor's Exploring India. Fodor's Travel Publications. ISBN 978-0-679-00707-4.
• Hussain, Ansar (1 January 1999). Rediscovery of India, The: A New Subcontinent. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-81-250-1595-6.
• Kumar, Brajesh (2003). Pilgrimage Centres of India. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. ISBN 978-81-7182-185-3.
• Shetty, Rekha (1 May 2014). Innovation Sutra: The Secret of Good Business and a Good Life. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-93-5118-696-0.

Further reading

• Vit-Suzan, Dr Ilan (28 March 2014). Architectural Heritage Revisited: A Holistic Engagement of its Tangible and Intangible Constituents. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4724-2064-0.