Balia Mosque Thakurgaon

Balia Mosque is one of the various historical structures and archaeological monuments of Thakurgaon district. Legend has it that on a new moon night some jinn decided to build a mosque here while flying over the area and they continued building the mosque throughout the night. At the end of the night, when dawn came, the construction of the dome of the mosque remained. Then the jinn left the mosque unfinished. For the next hundred years, this Balia mosque was abandoned without a dome. In 2005, the renovation work of Balia Masjid started. Later in 2010, the mosque was opened for worshipers. Balia Masjid is popularly known as Masjid of Jinn for this popular event.

According to historical information, Meher Bux Chowdhury, the husband of Gulmati Choudhurani, the daughter of a zamindar of Balia, built the 'Balia Masjid'. But no exact information is available about the construction date of the mosque. According to the inscriptions on the mosque, this mosque was built in 1317 Bangabd (English year 1910). Again Meher Bux Chowdhury died in 1317 Bengal. Therefore, it is believed that the construction work of Balia Masjid was incomplete due to the death of Meher Bux Chowdhury.

Similarities are found with the Balia Masjid of various Mughal buildings in Dhaka. The mosque complex is made up of three parts: main gate, open square and main building. And the main mosque is built on a 42 inch wide wall without pillars. The rectangular mosque, measuring 62 feet 6 inches in east-west and 69 feet 2 inches in north-south, stands on a platform about 5 feet 3 inches high above the plain.

The roof of Balia Masjid is about 17 feet above the floor and has 3 domes and 8 minarets. The walls of the mosque, built of lime-surki, hand-burnt bricks and tiles, are carved with red brick designs in the form of lotuses, pitchers, bells, amlaki and dish-bowls.

Bhullibazar is located 10 km northwards along the Panchagarh highway from Thakurgaon district headquarters. The distance between Bhullibazar and Balia village is three kilometers. Buses and autorickshaws to Bhullibazar are available from Thakurgaon old bus stand. Bus fare is 15 taka per person and auto rickshaw will cost 100 taka. You can go to Balia Masjid by van from Bhullibazar.

Thakurgaon can be reached by road and rail from Dhaka. There are several bus services plying from Dhaka to Thakurgaon by road, among them Karnaphuli Paribahan ( 01674-805164 ), Hanif Enterprises, Nabil Paribahan, Ena, Hanif, Bablu Enterprises and Kaya Paribahan. AC/Non-AC ticket fare per person for these transports is Tk 800-1800. Apart from this, Ekta Express, Hirtyan Express and Panchagarh Express leave for Thakurgaon from Dhaka's Kamalapur or airport. It takes Tk 650 to Tk 2237 depending on the class to buy a train ticket to Thakurgaon.

There are several government post bungalows or rest houses in Thakurgaon. You can stay overnight in these rest houses with the permission of the authorities. Among the residential hotels, Hotel Salam International, Prime International, Hotel Shah Jalal, Hotel Sadek are notable.

Here you will find basic and mid-range hotel-restaurants to meet your daily dining needs. However, if you go to Thakurgaon during the mango season, you must eat the famous Suryapuri mango here.

Everything you will see except Balia Masjid

Feature Image: Ti Yas