MOSQUE & TOMB OF SAYYID UTHMAN

 

 The mosque built to the west of the tomb has a line of pillars with no wall in the east front, and has slender five-tiered minars in the south and north. These minars are richly decorated with sculpture from their foundationsadjacent to the edge of the mosque to the top of the roof. The inside the prayer room is 5 spans in depth. Only two spans of either side of the central span have arches. All pillars are simple, mostly with no decoration. The central mihrab and the minbar seems to have been repaired in a later period. The other mihrabs have the Hindu-style decorations. Behind the west wall of the prayer room, in the location for a mihrab, there are sculptures similar to that found in Hindu or Jain temples, which match the minars of either edges. The windows provided in this projecting part has the form and structure of pagan temples.

 The tomb of Sayyid Uthman was built, corresponding to the position of the mosque, with a large garden in between. It has a flat but large dome at the centre of the roof, surrounded by eight small domes. This central tomb chamber has the same structure as the mausoleum of Shaikh Ahmad Khattu, surrounded by 12 jointed arches. Surrounding this part are double corridors. Like the mosque, there is almost no decoration on the numerous pillars. However, as can be seen in the picture, the outer edge inside the ceiling is richly decorated by sculptured patterns. It is assumed that the large tomb at the centre of the tomb chamber is the tomb of this Sufu saint. (Matsuo Ara)

 The tomb and the mosque are built on the same axis from the east to the west. The length of each building is about 40 metres. The dome of the tomb is not in 12-pillared style. In order to create a larger dome, pillars are arranged asymmetrically. It is interesting to observe that the arrangement of pillars of the mosque corresponds to that in the tomb. (Naoko Fukami)

 

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