NAKHODA MASJID
NAKHODA MASJIDNakhoda Masjid or mosque is the principal mosque in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal.
The mosque was built in 1926 as an imitation of the mausoleum of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar at Sikanadar, Agra, India, by the Kutch Memon Jamat, a small community of Sunni Muslim community from Kutch district in Gujrat, Western India, Abdur Rahim Osman, a leader of the Kutchi Memon Jama’at, who provides funds for the construction of the building was a shipping prince: The mosque was named Nakhoda meaning Mariner and its association with shipping. The mosque structure is made of red sand stones brought from Tolepur, modelled on Mughal Emperor Akbar’s tomb in Sikandara, near Agra, India. This tomb is an important Mughal architectural masterpiece.
The mosque has three domes and two minarets which are 151 feet high. There are an additional 25 smaller minarets which range from 100 feet to 117 feet high. The gateway is a replica of the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri, a town in Agra district, Indi founded as the capital of the Mughal Empire by Emperor Akbar. The Buland Darwaza, or the “Door of victory”, was built in 1602 A.D. by Akbar to commemorate his victory over Gujarat. It is the main entrance to the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri, which is 43 km from Agra, India.