Alamgir Mosque

The Alamgir Mosque, also known as the Aurangzeb's Mosque, is a mosque in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. The site was originally an ancient Hindu temple known as Bindu Madhav Temple. The temple was destroyed in 1673 by Muslim Mughal Emporer Aurangzeb who built the mosque on the ruins of the temple. The mosque is located at a prominent site above the Panchaganga Ghat. The ghat has broad steps that go down to the Ganges.

Overview

Aurangzeb conquered Varanasi in 1669 and constructed a mosque named Alamagir Mosque, in the name of his own honoury title "Alamgir", which he had adopted after becoming the emperor of the Mughal empire.
The minarets could not 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, for security reasons.
The mosque is architecturally a blend of Indo-Islamic and Hindu architecture. The mosque has high domes and minarets. Two of its minarets were damaged; one minaret collapsed killing a few people and the other was officially brought down owing to stability concerns. 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.