Adina Mosque of Bengal with Hindu Carvings
By New Age Islam Staff
Writer
26 July
2024
Sikander Shah's Tomb Is Situated Inside the
Mosque
Main Points:
1.
Adina mosque was built by Sikander
Shah of Bengal Sultanate in 1375 A.D.
1.
2.The mosque was the largest one in
the Indian subcontinent.
2.
It was similar to the great mosque
of Damascus.
3.
The walls and doors of the mosque
have carvings of Hindu deities.
------
The
central Mehrab of the Adina Mosque (Masjid), Malda
-----
Adina
Masjid in Pandua in the Malda district of West Bengal is another reminder of
the fact that in the medieval era, religious places of Hindus and Muslims
existed side by side and that the Muslims did not mind the carvings of Hindu
religious symbols or deities on the walls of mosques. Adina Masjid of West
Bengal is proof of this mind-set of the medieval era Muslims.
The mosque
has been abandoned since the 19th century after earthquakes damaged some
portions of it. The mosque is now a listed monument under the Archaeological
Survey of India. The total area of the mosque is about 500-metre-long and
300-metre-wide with 260 pillars and 387 domed bay.
The most
striking and debated feature of Adina mosque is that some of its walls,
particularly the basalt and doors have carved images of Hindu deities Shiva and
Ganesh. Apart from it, the lotus and leaves have also been carved out. It is
known to all the lotus is a religious symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism. The
website Archnet.org describes the blend of Islamic architecture and Hindu
motifs in the plan of the mosque:
"In
total, the 39 Mehrabs, Minbers and
other ornamentations are rigorously Islamic in their general conception but
Hindu in almost all the details: small scalloped columns and plinths in the
shape of lotus flowers, volutes representing leaves, corbels, tribolate arches
each with sharp end cuspidated with a vase of flowers, volutes representing
leaves, rhomboid lozenges and friezes of lotus petals. Along with the Hindu
motifs, the interior of the Mehrab niche
is divided into panels containing the Islamic motif of the hanging lamp
commonly used in Bengal and is thought to be the visual representation of surah
Al Nur (chapter of light in the Quran)."
According
to Archnet, "One of the doors was
originally carved for a Hindu temple."
The
carvings of lotus flowers, leaves or petals n the walls can be explained as the
result of influence of Indian culture and liberal approach of the Sultans of
Bengal but how can the presence of the carvings of the Hindu deities Ganesha
and Shiva be justified or explained? Every Muslim knows that the images of
living beings are not allowed in mosques, leave aside images of Hindu gods. It
cannot be argued that the Sultans of Bengal were so liberal that they allowed
the images of Hindu deities to be carved on the walls or doors of the mosque.
The images
of Shiva and Ganesh on one or two doors were carved out probably because the
doors were meant for a temple that could not be built for some reasons. The
reason may be opposition from Muslims or the untimely death of the sultan.
However, the Hindu images on the basalt of the mosque do not have any valid
explanation.
It should
be kept in mind that the Quran and hadith were made popular in India only in
the first half of the 18th century by Shah Waliullah. He was educated in Makkah
and Madina and translated the Quran in Persian for his madrasa students. It was
the first translation of the Quran in India. He also taught hadith to Indians
for the first time. Before that, Islam was known among Indians through oral
traditions and therefore Indian Muslims did not have in-depth knowledge of
Islam.
The book of
Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) was also compiled at the behest of the Mughal
emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century. The Muslim converts of India inherited
Hindu beliefs and practices even after converting to Islam and in some areas
they even kept Hindu idols in their houses. In this scenario, we can imagine
the culture and the religious knowledge of Muslims of Bengal or India including
the sultans in the 14th century. Therefore, one should not be surprised when we
see stones with Hindu carvings of lotus petals also used to build the mosque.
Yet another
aspect of the 14th century India should be kept in mind while studying the Indo
-Islamic architecture of the mosque. During the medieval period, India saw the
emergence of many monotheistic Hindu sects. Nath
Sampraday, Lingayats, Pranami Sampraday, the Vaishnavs, Sikhism etc. The Nath sect had originated from Buddhism and considered Shiva the
incarnation of the Supreme Soul. They did not believe in idol worship. Pranami
sect also originated in the 17th century. This sect imbibed the teachings of
both Gita and Quran. In their temples, Gita, Vedas and the Quran were recited
till the life of Mahatma Gandhi. His mother Putli Bai was a follower of Pranami
sect. That's why Mahatma Gandhi used to say that he had Gita in one hand and the
Quran in the other. In his My Experiments With Truth, Gandhi wrote:
"Pranami is a sect deriving the best of
Gita and Quran in search of one goal ----Krisna."
In this
background it would not be surprising that one or two doors of the mosque
complex were built as entrance of a temple of a monotheistic Hindu sect but
could not be completed, leaving the impression for posterity that the mosque
was built on the ruins of a temple. Today when we talk of a Hindu temple, we
only think of a temple with an idol but during the 14th century to later ages,
there were many temples that belonged to Shaivites,
Naths or Pranami sects.
Since
details of Adina mosque are not available, one cannot ascertain the true
reasons of the presence of the Hindu motifs along with Islamic motifs like Tughra inscriptions on the walls but one
thing can be said with conviction that the mosque was not built over a temple
as there is no historical account of the existence of a temple before the
construction of a mosque in Pandua. Perhaps, it was used as a place of worship
for both Hindus and Muslims.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/adina-mosque-masjid-bengal-hindu-carvings/d/132792
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