Alamgir Mosque

The mosque is located at a prominent site above the Panchaganga Ghat. The ghat has broad steps that go down to the Ganges.[4]

Aurangzeb captured Varanasi in 1669 and destroyed the ancient Bindu Madhav temple and built a mosque on the ruins of the temple in 1673[2][1][5] and named it as Alamagir Mosque in the name of his own honorific title "Alamgir", which he had adopted after becoming the emperor of the Mughal empire.[1]

The minarets couldn't withstand the test of time and in the 19th century, an English scholar James Prinsep had to restore them. In 1948 one of the minarets collapsed killing a few people around the time of the floods. Later the government pulled down the other minaret due to security reasons.[6][7]

Aurangzeb Mosque or Alamgir Mosque

The mosque is architecturally a blend of Islamic and Hindu architecture.[6] The mosque has high domes and minarets.[8][7] Two of its minarets were damaged; one minaret collapsed killing a few people and the other was officially brought down owing to stability concerns.[7] The Panchaganga Ghat where the mosque is situated is where five streams are said to join. In October lamps are lighted on top of a bamboo staff as a mark of guidance to the ancestors.[8]

Interior view

• Vit-Suzan, Dr Ilan (28 March 2014). Architectural Heritage Revisited: A Holistic Engagement of its Tangible and Intangible Constituents. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4724-2064-0.

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