It was the day-3 of our four days tour and we have hired a rented car for three days. The daylight has gone when we were at the Barisal town (বরিশাল টাউন). That car has served us well for these three days. Just one last service needed, and it was the Guthia Mosque (গুঠিয়া মসজিদ). This mosque is at it’s best during the night. This mosque is a bit far from the town. So after confirming our rooms from the Hotel Athena, we have started moving again.
It is around a 30-40 minutes of car drive from the Barisal town (বরিশাল টাউন). This mosque uses to be closed for visiting after the prayer of Esha (এশা) at night (usually 8:00pm there), and it was 7:20pm of the night when we have reached there. The mosque is under a boundary, and everything is nicely organized. We have had a stroll through the designated paths and observed the mosque from the different corners. This mosque is also a tourist attraction for the local people. We have found lot of other local people who were wandering there. Probably few of them were tourists from Dhaka and probably on the way of Kuakata (কুয়াকাটা).
We have leaved the place when the prayer started. We were hungry after returning into the room. There are several quality restaurants available at the town. We have entered inside the Rose Garden Restaurant. It was big, nicely decorated and the quality of the food was good. During the dinner I got a news about transportation blocked and no train, launch or bus started for Dhaka today (or tonight). It made me tensed, cause I had to return back to Dhaka at next day. I was sweating inside even during the evening of winter!
About the Mosque:
The name of the mosque is Baitul Aman Mosque (বাইতুল আমান মসজিদ). But it is also known as Guthia Mosque (গুঠিয়া মসজিদ) after the name of the place Guthia (গুঠিয়া). The builder of the mosque is local person named Sorfuddin Ahmed Santu (সরফুদ্দিন আহমেদ সান্টু). He has finished the construction of the mosque at 2006. This is probably the largest mosque from our southern Bangladesh.
I didn’t visit this mosque during the daytime. Thus I have no idea about how it is during the day. But I know how it looks like during the night. It is nicely decorated, and the lighting are nearly perfect. It is delicately beautiful and picturesquely colorful. There are lot of pathways around where the visitors can have their stroll. Its really a peaceful place and anyone would surely love to spend few moments here during the night.
This huge mosque has a very high minaret which is also beautiful. It has several domes at the top of the mosque (not sure how many). Probably several thousands of people at a time can participate into the prayer here. Since I didn’t visit the mosque during the day time, I’ll surely visit this mosque again.
How to Go:
The mosque is a bit far from the Barisal town (বরিশাল টাউন). It is exactly beside the road of Barisal-Swarupkathi (বরিশাল-স্বরূপকাঠি). Also, it is a famous place. Everyone knows about this place. It will be better if you take any vehicle for round trip with you. I am not sure, probably you’ll find some bus for Guthia Mosque (গুঠিয়া মসজিদ) from the Dhaka bus stoppage near the town. GPS coordinate of the mosque is (22°46’57.64″N, 90°14’19.72″E).
Where to stay:
We have stayed at the Hotel Athena, a handy one from the Barisal town (বরিশাল টাউন). A single room did cost us 500 Taka (double bed room is 1000-1200 Taka). And the manager of the hotel seemed friendly.
It was the day-3 of our four days trip at Southern Bangladesh. We have traveled Barisal (বরিশাল), Jhalokathi (ঝালকাঠি), Pirojpur (পিরোজপুর), Bagerhat (বাগেরহাট), and Khulna (খুলনা) on those days.
Guthia Mosque (গুঠিয়া মসজিদ) / Baitul Aman Mosque (বাইতুল আমান মসজিদ),
Village: Changuria (চাংগুরিয়া),
Union: Guthia (গুঠিয়া ইউনিয়ন),
Upazela: Uzirpur (উজিরপুর উপজেলা),
District: Barisal (বরিশাল জেলা),
Country: Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ),
GPS coordinate: (22°46’57.64″N, 90°14’19.72″E),
This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icwow.blogspot.com/
