Hooghly Imambara
Hooghly Imambara (imam—angel, bara—the building to live in)[1] is a mosque cum imambarah administered by the Shia astna-ashari sect of Muslims, in Hooghly, West Bengal.[1] The construction of the building was started by Muhammad Mohsin in 1841 and completed in 1861.[2] The building is a two storied structure, with a tall clock tower over the entrance gate.[1] The mosque has intricate designs and texts from Quran engraved on the wall. The interior of the mosque is decorated with marbles, candles and hanging lanterns.
Clock
Hooghly Imambara is famous for its vaunted clock.[1] It is at the middle of the twin towers constructed on the doorway of the main entrance. Each tower, having a height of approximately 150 ft., takes 152 steps to reach its top. The clock has two dials with three bells having weight 80 mds, 40 mds and 30 mds. Smaller bells ring at an interval of 15 minutes and bigger bell rings to signify one hour. The clock requires two people to wind it for half an hour of each week, with a key weighing 20 kg. It was bought for Rs. 11,721 (in 1852) by Syed Keramat Ali from the manufacturer: M/s Black & Hurray Co., Big Ben, London.
Location
It is in Hoogly District. People coming from Kolkata have to take a train (Local or Express) to Naihati Junction. From there they get off at Hoogly Ghat Station. From there, Imambara is in a walking distance.
Gallery
The outside facade
Clock tower
Bell inside the clock tower
Hooghly Imambara
The twin towers of Imambara of Hooghly
The rear portion of Imambara of Hooghly
The sun dial of Hooghly's Imambara
B&W Version
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hooghly Imambara. |
- 1 2 3 4 Mukherjee, Sreecheta (2011). "Hazi Muhammad Mohsin’s Hooghly Imambara: a Tale of Diminishing Glory" (PDF). Chitrolekha International Magazine on Art and Design. 1 (3). Retrieved 17 February 2013.
- ↑ "Next weekend you can be at ... Hooghly". The Telegraph. 26 February 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2013.