Chandanpura Mosque (চন্দনপুরা মসজিদ)

Chandanpura Mosque stands on Nawab Sirajuddaula Road in the Chandanpura area of old Chattogram, the port city of south-eastern Bangladesh. It is also known as Masjid-e-Siraj ud-Daulah, after the road and the last independent Nawab of Bengal.

The first mosque on the site was built in 1870 by builders from Lucknow and Bombay working for the contractor Master Abdul Hamid, and it was first called the Hamidia Taj Masjid. In 1947 his descendant Abu Syed Dobhash began a rebuilding in concrete that was completed in 1952 at a cost of around Tk 4 lakh. Since then it has become one of the most photographed buildings in the city.

The mosque is known for its colour. Its facade is painted in bright shades of white, blue, green, pink and yellow, and it carries a crowd of domes, small cupolas and slim minarets of different heights. The main dome is said to have been covered with metal plates, and the decoration mixes Mughal-style arches with glass and tile ornament. The overall effect is closer to a decorated palace front than to the plain mosques of the region.

Air pollution and the damp climate have worn the paintwork over the years, and parts of the building have been repainted several times.

The mosque is in active use, so visitors should come outside prayer times, dress modestly and remove shoes before entering. There is no entry fee. The streets around it are narrow and busy, so a rickshaw or CNG auto rickshaw is the easiest way to reach it.

Why does Chandanpura Mosque look so different?

Its builders mixed Mughal arches and domes with the decorative habits of north and west Indian craftsmen, then finished the whole front in strong colours. The result is a building that reads more like a festive palace than a mosque, which is why it stands out from the brick and whitewash of the rest of old Chattogram.

Local historians know relatively little about the mosque's earliest years, and accounts differ on whether the first building was earthen or masonry. Most agree that the 1947 to 1952 rebuilding gave the mosque the layered domes and slender minarets seen today, and that the design kept the spirit of the original.