Baro Shona Masjid

Baro Shona Masjid, the Great Golden Mosque, also called the Baroduari Masjid and the Qutub Shahi Mosque, stands in partial ruin at Gour in Malda district, close to the border with Bangladesh. It lies 500 metres south of Ramkeli village and 12 km south of Malda town. Begun by Alauddin Husain Shah and completed in 1526 under his son, Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah, it is the largest monument in Gour and a Monument of National Importance under the ASI.

The brick structure, faced in stone, measures about 50 by 23 metres and stands 12 metres high, with four corner towers and a large open courtyard in front. Of the 44 domes that once covered it, 11 over the verandah survive; they were originally gilded, which gave the mosque its name. Eleven arched entrances on the east open into a long domed verandah and a ruined three-aisled prayer hall. The stone facing is plain but for a string course at half height, though glazed tile mosaics probably once framed the doors.