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An Eidgah is a large open-air mosque
built on the outskirts of a city for the purpose of
performing Eid salah – prayers of supplication to Allah.
Shahi Eidgah, which is situated in the
city of Sylhet in north-eastern
Bangladesh, is one of the largest and oldest
Eidgahs in Bangladesh. More than 100,000 worshippers can
perform salah simultaneously in this Eidgah. The
turreted walls surrounding Shahi Eidgah give it the
appearance of a grand fort from the outside. It is,
however, meant for the congregating of worshippers
during the two Muslim Eid festivals.
Shahi Eidgah is one of the popular
tourist attractions of the area, alongside important
historical places such as the Stone Monument of
Jaintapur, Gaiyabi Mosque, Mound of Gharduara, Nawabi
Mosque, Mughal Mosque at Akhalia and the ancient Pargana
of Kanihati. Sylhet is also renowned for its many tea
gardens, as well as for its pineapple and orange
orchards.
The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb commissioned the
building of the Shahi Eidgah in the 17th century.
Emperor Aurangzeb was the ruler of the Mughal Empire
from the year 1658 until his death in 1707. He preferred
to be known by his self-chosen Imperial title of Alamgir
I, meaning “conqueror of the Universe”. He was
responsible for bringing a larger area under Mughal rule
than had ever before been achieved and is generally
looked upon as being the last great Mughal ruler. The
foundation of his reign was his insistence on strict
adherence to Islam and Islamic law - Sharia. Unlike some
of his predecessors, Emperor Aurangzeb did not use the
royal treasury for extravagant building projects,
undertaking only the building of a modest mausoleum for
his first wife in Aurangabad, the Badshahi Masjid in
Lahore, a small marble mosque added to the Red Fort
complex in Delhi and the Shahi Eidgah in Sylhet.
To this day the majority of the inhabitants of Sylhet
district follow Islam as a religion and ideology. In
fact, it is estimated that more that 90% are Islamic,
with Hinduism being the second largest religion in the
district. With this in mind, it is easy to understand
why Shahi Eidgah is an important feature in the lives of
the Bangladeshi people living in
Sylhet.
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