The recent pandemic put a halt to my annual trip to India in 2021 and 2022. Frustrating though it was, this long period of stagnation did give me the opportunity to plan my next trip to a level of detail that I have never achieved before. For my road trip around West Bengal I was determined to do my best not to miss anything that I really wanted to see, but half the problem is knowing about such places in the first place, as I often find myself in some pretty remote and obscure locations. While looking for sites around Ambika Kalna on Google maps, I happened to come across some images of an imposing tall grey stepped tower, quite unlike anything I had seen before in India. It was only 20km south-west of Kalna, so I dropped a pin on the location and added it to my already overly packed itinerary.
The town of Pandua (alias Pundooah or Punduah) is best known for its minar, known as the Pandua Minar. It was probably built both as a minaret for the nearby Bais Darwaza mosque (Bari Masjid), and as a victory tower to symbolise the new religion of Islam in the early 14th century.
One can immediately draw quite a few parallels with the Qutb Minar in Delhi (built in 1192 CE by the first Sultan of Delhi, Qutb-ud-din Aibak), but there are some significant differences. At just under 40m, the Pandua Minar is only half the height of the Qutb Minar, but its base is more than double the size. An earthquake in 1886 reduced the height of the minar by 2m, which was repaired by the ASI. The profile of the tower is quite different as well, with a series of five storeys stepping in as the tower recedes to the top, as opposed to the Qutb Minar where the profile is continuously tapering.
Aside from a quite subtle vertical ribbed effect on the three lower storeys, there is no other ornamentation on the Pandua Tower. The structure has also been plastered, although it now appears quite grey it would have once stood out far more and been seen for miles around. A spiral staircase with 161 steps inside the minar could take you to the top of the tower, but this is now permanently locked.
Located 50m to the west of the tower is the Bais Darwaza Masjid (22 Door Mosque) or Bari Masjid (Big Mosque). Built in 1340 CE, this 70m long mosque has 21 arched openings at the front, with a further six to the sides, five of which have been sealed with bricks. Hence we are now left with 22 entrances from where this mosque gets its local name.
Bari Masjid is a courtyard congregational mosque, rectangular in plan with an open courtyard surrounded by cloisters on three sides. The qibla wall has 21 mihrabs, the central one being the largest and most ornate. Ornamental motifs decorate the wall of the mihrab, with grill patterns and rosette medallions. The Bari Masjid is in fact one of the few brick built mosques of Bengal which has terracotta work on its walls.
In the middle of the structure are two parallel rows of basalt pillars dividing the mosque into three aisles, giving us in total in 63 bays. The roof has long since disappeared, but would have consisted of 63 domes arranged in three rows of 21, aligning with the aisles.
The basalt pillars obviously stand out here, not only for the different building material used but also for the motifs that can be found on them. No effort has been made to place similar patterned pillars together, they appear to have been deployed in a random fashion without any attention to detail. Clearly these are reused pre-Islamic pillars, the motifs on them seem to have both Hindu and Buddhist associated imagery.
The minbar (a pulpit where the Imam deliver sermons) is to the right of the central mihrab. Built of black basalt, this throne-like structure also has a number of non-Islamic motifs, again suggesting it was quarried from a nearby temple.
There is a story associated with this place, one that I have struggled to verify sufficiently but it is worth reciting here. It concerns Pandu Raja, who lived in neighboring Mahanad in Hooghly where cow slaughter was totally banned. Syed Shah Saifuddin, the nephew of Feroz Shah Khilji (Sultan of Delhi) and a warrior saint, visited this place during 13th Century and slaughtered a cow for a feast to offer to his guests who had come for Khatna (circumcision) of his son. This made Pandu Raja angry and he sacrificed Syed Shah Saifuddin’s son to the goddess Kali. Shah Safiuddin returned to Delhi and narrated this to his maternal uncle, Khilji, who sent a large army along with sixteen other Sufis under the command of Jaffar Khan Ghazi in around 1293 CE.
Pandua was subsequently attacked, and the imperial army was victorious after a long battle. It is said the Minar was constructed by Syed Shah Saifuddin as a mark of victory towards the end of 13th century, shortly before be died from his battle wounds. His dargah and mosque was constructed nearby on the Grand Trunk road, both Hindus and Muslims visit his grave to seek his spiritual blessings.
There are also stories that Pandua Minar was built directly over the top of a demolished Vishnu temple that previously occupied the site, and as we have seen the evidence is clear that construction of the mosque did incorporate architectural elements from a probable nearby temple.
The Bari Masjid and Minar are under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India and are declared monuments of National Importance. The entire enclosure is usually locked with no access possible. There is a small road that runs along the eastern side of the complex, and opposite a locked gate close to the minar is a house where I was able to get some help from a caretaker. We then proceeded to walk over to a southern entrance by the Grand Trunk Road, and were allowed in to explore further.
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Categories: India, Pandua Minar and Bais Darwaza (Bari) Masjid, West Bengal
Kevin Standage 
Thanks for all the work for West Bengal. I readed all the articles but never leaved a comment.
For Pandua, I have a question. Is it an other Pandua than the city near Gaur ?
It is the first time I saw your tower about Pandua, the ancient capital.
Thanks for advance for the next posts
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Thanks for reading my efforts 🙂 There are a few Panduas in India, this one is 20 SW of Ambika Kalna
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