Jami Masjid At Champanir
Jami Masjid At Champanir
- Built with the Jami Masjid at Ahmedabad as model except on a smaller scale and a few differences.
- The entire structure is a rectangle of 270' X 180'. A bit less than half the space is taken up by the sanctuary.
Cloisters
- The courtyard is surrounded by a range of arched cloisters, one aisle deep.
- An imposing entrance pavilion projects from the centre of each of the north, south and east cloisters. The eastern pavilion is a fine example of architecture in itself.
- A series of moulded buttresses along the exterior of the qibla wall along with traceried openings at close intervals along the entire periphery makes the exterior of the mosque attractive as well.
Sanctuary
- Sanctuary facade is of enclosed type containing 5 pointed archways with two slender minarets flanking the central opening.
- The ornamentation of the minarets is restricted to their buttress like bases, with the five stages above left mostly unadorned.
- On the whole, the frontal screen is more or less economically treated, relieved only by 3 oriel windows, one above the central arch and two on the minarets.
- Sanctuary is a pillared hall measuring 270' X 130', containing 176 pillars.
- The nave rises to 65' in height through 3 storeys and covered by a dome.
- From the second storey, it takes the form of a Latin cross with very short arms.
- Each storey is accessed by a staircase in the minarets.
- The level of the first floor is continuous with the roof of the rest of the building, forming a wide terrace for circumambulation among the cupolas with a square well above the nave.
- The second floor is restricted to the Latin cross and is a large pillared gallery with an octagonal well. This floor communicates with the oriel window above the central arch in the sanctuary facade.
- The zenana chamber is placed at the northern end of the transept.
- Around the galleries are provided stone seats with sloping backs.
- The Champanir mosque is based on the Ahmedabad mosque as a template, though the builders were not able to provide much of an improvement on the Ahmedabad archetype. The pillars in the Champanir sanctuary are more sophisticated than the Ahmedabad example, as may be seen in the vertical recessed chases of the shafts and other architectural details of a similar nature.