Jama Mosque, Ahmedabad
The Jama Mosque (also spelled Jami Masjid; Gujarati: Jama Masjid), also called the Friday Mosque, is a congregational mosque in the old walled city of Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was built in the 1420s under Ahmed Shah, the sultan who founded the city, and is described by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as having been the largest mosque in India at the time.[1] Its prayer hall combines Islamic structural forms with carving traditions also seen in Hindu and Jain temples of the region.[2]
The mosque is still in use and is one of the busiest Friday mosques in the city.[1]
Location
The mosque stands near the Teen Darwaja gateway in the old city.[1] Gujarat Tourism describes it as built as part of a larger design of the city.[2]
History
The mosque was built by Ahmed Shah in 1423, according to Gujarat Tourism.[2] The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's heritage department gives the same start and says it was completed in 1424.[1] Both sources describe it as the largest mosque in India or the Indian subcontinent at the time; Gujarat Tourism hedges this with "supposedly".[2]
The municipal source also states that the mosque was originally meant for the private use of the sultans' royal family, and that the public was admitted later.[1] This claim is not repeated in the other source consulted for this article.
Architecture
The prayer hall (sanctuary) has three levels and 260 columns supporting a roof with 15 domes.[1] Gujarat Tourism says the domes sit at different elevations.[2] A central octagonal lantern (an opening that lets in light) rises through both storeys of the hall, which the municipal source calls unique.[1] Five mihrabs, the niches that indicate the direction of Mecca, line the prayer wall.[1]
The courtyard has marble paving, ablution areas, and colonnaded galleries on three sides.[1] A two-level women's section (zenana) has pillared galleries behind finely perforated stone screens.[1]
Some domes are carved to resemble lotuses, which Gujarat Tourism compares to many Jain temples; it presents this as architectural fusion of Islamic and Hindu-Jain traditions.[2]
Minarets
The mosque originally had two minarets. Their lower portions survive, flanking the central portico of the prayer hall.[2] The sources disagree on when they were lost:
| Source | Account |
|---|---|
| Gujarat Tourism | The minarets lost half their height in the great earthquake of 1819.[2] |
| AMC Heritage City | The mosque lost its pair of minarets in earthquake damage in 1957.[1] |
This article does not resolve the discrepancy. The two accounts may describe separate episodes of damage, but neither source says so. Dated structural surveys or conservation records from the Archaeological Survey of India would settle it.
Nearby tombs
Gujarat Tourism reports that Ahmed Shah, his son, and his grandson have mausoleums near the mosque, along with Rani no Hajiro, a group of tombs of queens and wives of the dynasty.[2]
Visiting
Entry is free, with opening hours of 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM per the municipal heritage site; visitors are asked to remove shoes and keep quiet.[1]
- ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ^i ^j ^k ^l Jama Masjid. AMC Heritage City. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Heritage Department. https://heritage.ahmedabadcity.gov.in/details/76/heritage_site/morning-walk/en.
- ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ^i Jama (Jumma) Masjid Ahmedabad. Gujarat Tourism. Gujarat Tourism. https://gujarattourism.com/central-zone/ahmedabad/jama--jumma--masjid.html.