It was the third day of our four days tour. Last night it had a heavy rain in Khulna town. And it was a gloomy and chilling today. A typical winter day in Bangladesh. Yesterday we have almost visited all the archaeological edifices from the Bagerhat district (বাগেরহাট জেলা). Due to lack of daylight we have missed the Ronobijoypur Mosque (রণবিজয়পুর মসজিদ) yesterday. Today we were on the way of Jhalokathi (ঝালকাঠি), and had a pause at this mosque to clean the leftover from yesterday’s plan. It was around 9:00am at the morning.
Ronobijoypur Mosque (রণবিজয়পুর মসজিদ) is located at the village Ronobijoypur of Bagerhat district (রণবিজয়পুর, বাগেরহাট জেলা). Wait, its not a remote village. It’s just at the opposite of the Khanjahan Ali Mazar (খান জাহান আলি মাজার). The name of the mosque can be written as Rono Bijoypur Mosque (রণ বিজয়পুর মসজিদ) for simplicity. It is a single domed mosque and if we consider the single dome, then this is the largest domed mosque from the Bangladesh. The spherical dome almost covers the whole roof.
There was no inscription or anything found for the mosque Ronobijoypur Mosque (রণবিজয়পুর মসজিদ). That’s why it is still totally unknown about the actual build date of the mosque. But it is considered as a contemporary of the Khan Jahan Ali (খান জাহান আলি) after examining the architecture, style, and other subjects those matters. Which means its another mosque of 15th century.
It is a square shaped mosque having very thick walls (and this is another interesting characteristic of the mosque). It has four beautiful firm and round shaped columns (they probably call it minaret!) at the four corners of the mosque. These columns are extravagantly thick. This mosque has gates at every sides except the West. But these days only one gate from the Eastern side is open for entry, and others are sealed.
This mosque was taken under the custody of the department of Archaeology at 1961. But there are local people who believe this mosque as Doriya Khan’s Mosque (দরিয়া খাঁ’র মসজিদ) who was a companion of the Khan Jahan Ali (খান জাহান আলি). It is local people’s claim, but the department of archaeology has never confirmed this. So, I am still in a doubtful situation about this issue.
Most of the spaces around mosque are occupied by local people. The mosque has a very little amount of space around it. The barbed wires are placed very close to the walls of the mosque. For this reason it was extremely difficult to take the full view of the mosque. It is always a shame that we can’t protect our heritage properly, either they are lost or in a haphazard condition.
How to Go:
It is just a walking distance from the famous Khan Jahan Ali Mazar (খান জাহান আলি মাজার) of Bagerhat district (বাগেরহাট জেলা). From the main road, if the Mazar (মাজার) is at right side, then the mosque will be at the left side. GPS Coordinate of the mosque is (22°40’5.03″N, 89°45’29.16″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-3 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.
Ronobijoypur Mosque (রণবিজয়পুর মসজিদ),
Village: Ronobijoypur (রণবিজয়পুর),
District: Bagerhat (বাগেরহাট জেলা),
Country: Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ),
GPS coordinate (22°40’5.03″N, 89°45’29.16″E)
This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icwow.blogspot.com/
