Small Golden Mosque

Chhota Sona Mosque or Small Golden Mosque derives its name from the gilding that once graced the surface of the fifteen domes of this mosque. An inscription ascribes Wali Muhammad as the builder and it was erected during the reign of Sultan Husain Shah.Chhota sona mosque is situated about 3km due south of Kotwali Darwaza and half a km to the southeast of the Tahkhana complex in the Firuzpur Quarters of Gaur-Lakhnauti, the capital of the Sultanate Bengle.

It is a simple rectangular structure its exterior measuring 21.2m and its interior

12.2m. In addition to four corner towers, there are two additional projecting buttressed towers that frame the back of the central mihrab. This brick structure is embellished with Rajmahal black stone facing on the exterior and this transition between materials is visible at the point where the domes begin. The mosque divided into three north – south aisles by two rows of stone pillars , four in each row. A wide central nave has cut the aisles into two equal halves, each half showing six equal square units of 3.5m a side. The interior of the mosque has therefore a total of fifteen units, of which the three rectangular units are covered with chauchala vaults and each of the remaining twelve square units by an inverted tumbler-shaped dome. The upper corners in between the arches of the units are filled with corbelled brick pendentives to make up the transitional phase for the domes. Northwest side of the mosque there is a royal gallery forming an floor that is still standing, albeit in a dilapidated condition. It was approached from the northwest corner of the mosque through a stepped platform connected with a doorway. The gallery a mihrab in front.

Stone carving, brick setting, terracotta gilding and glazed tiles were used in decorating the building, and of them the first one plays the dominant role. All fifteen domes and vaults over the roof, as witnessed by Creighton and Cunningham, were gilded, but no traces of gilding now remain. The spandrels of arches and the spaces above the frames have always been dotted with rosettes, an attractive form of desing, but all carved differently.