ARHAI DIN KA JHOMPRA
There are interesting relics
surrounding the town walls of Ajimer. The tower in the southeast
corner forms round curved flinges. The southwest tower, on the
other hand, consists of square curved flinges. The bottom part of
Qutb Minar in Delhi employs round and square curved flinges
altenately, and they are used in different parts separately in
the upper part. Also, round curved flinges are used in the minar
above the arch wall in Arhai Din Ka Jhompra Mosque. These facts
inform us the importance of curved flinges employed in towers of
this period. Towers with curved flinge are observed in the
buildings from 12-13th century around Kirman in Iran and Ghazna
in Afghan, aptly illustrating that Slijuq culture arrived in
India by way of south.
The corridor part surrounding the three sides originally had a line of 12-pillared domes. Dr. Conningam presented the plan. However, with the exception of a part in east and surrounding walls, almost nothing remains.
Like the corridor part, the prayer room consists of a line of 12-pillared romes and its front side is covered by an arched wall. The arch wall shows the original form almost completely, except for the upper part of a pair of minars in the centre., however, only the central part of the prayer room remains. The central arch has Arabic inscription similar to that in Quwwat al Islam Masjid and scluptures of various patterns. The central part of the arch walll is higher than the other parts. On the top, there is a pair of towers, which suggests the fact that Do-minar dating from the Seljuq Dynasty had been introduced. The arrengement of pillars in the prayer room, which can be viewed from the opening of the central arch, shows that there is a wedge-shaped part with no ceiling. It is not known if there was originally a screen like Jali. However, we can understand that this later developed into wellhole style observed in Gjarat region.
The central part of the prayer room consists of a line of five 12-pillared domes. All sides except for the west are surrounded by narrow corridors. This arrangement is different from that of Gjarati mosques built after late 14th century. Five domes are in cobel-style, each with different decorations. Under the central dome, there is a marble-made mihrab. Its quinfoiled arches and multifoiled arches on the facade can be viewed as Indian style decorations. (Naoko Fukami)