After visiting the Water Buffalo Farm we have headed for the city of mosques at Bagerhat (বাগেরহাট). And we started the visiting with the Bibi Begni Mosque (বিবি বেগনীর মসজিদ). It is located at the western side of the famous Shat Gombuz Mosque of Bagerhat (বাগেরহাট). The department of archaeology has renovated the mosque thoroughly, but couldn’t restore the vicinity area that is occupied by the local villagers these days.
Bibi Begni Mosque (বিবি বেগনীর মসজিদ) is yet another traditional singled dome mosque from Bangladesh. The original history behind the mosque is unknown. Some people believe that Bibi Begni (বিবি বেগনী) was one of the wives of Khan Jahan Ali (খান জাহান আলী), and some believe that she was a concubine (a mistress) of him. And also, they doubt whether it is really a mosque or a grave. Some scholars represent this type of edifice as a funerary mosque.
Lets keep the doubt and debate aside and lets call this as a mosque. This is a single dome mosque having entrances at the three sides other than West. At the Eastern side of the mosque it has three gates, whereas the middle one is larger. And at Northern and Southern side of the wall it has single door each. These days only the door from Northern side remains open to enter inside. The dome atop of the mosque is having a regular shape of other contemporary mosques (of 15th century).
The area around the mosque is occupied by the villagers and only a few portion remained around it. It is probably not a good idea to preserve antiquity in such a way. Government should free some spaces from around so that visitors can move around the mosque freely. This is my personal opinion.
How to Go:
Bibi Begni Mosque (বিবি বেগনীর মসজিদ) is located at the Western side of the famous Sixty Dome Mosque. From the main town you can easily go there by taking a battery driven auto rickshaw. GPS coordinate of the mosque is (22°40’35.18″N, 89°44’5.84″E).
Where to Stay:
Bagerhat (বাগেরহাট) is very near from the Khulna (খুলনা) town. Around 40 minutes of drive at maximum. And Khulna (খুলনা) is a divisional district. It has several international standard hotels along with plenty of cheap hotels. You can check in those for your night staying. I have stayed at the Royal International Hotel, an old and famous hotel from Khulna. And I always go for the old but famous hotels. The reason is, they are always classy, and everyone knows about location. Just ask anyone from Khulna (খুলনা) about this hotel from anywhere around there :-).
It was the day-2 of our four days trip at Southern Bangladesh. We have traveled Barisal (বরিশাল), Jhalokathi (ঝালকাঠি), Pirojpur (পিরোজপুর), Bagerhat (বাগেরহাট), and Khulna (খুলনা) in those days.
Bibi Begni Mosque (বিবি বেগনীর মসজিদ),
Village: Barakpur (বারাকপুর),
Union: Shat Gombuz (ষাটগুম্বুজ),
Upazela: Bagerhat Sadar (বাগেরহাট সদর),
District: Bagerhat (বাগেরহাট জেলা),
Country: Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ),
GPS coordinate: (22°40’35.18″N, 89°44’5.84″E)
This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog https://alonelytraveler.com/
