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Champaner, Jama Masjid

Champaner, also known as Muhammadabad, is a historical city in the state of Gujarat, in western India. The city was briefly the capital of Gujarat.

It was founded by Vanraj Chavda, the most prominent king of the Chavda Dynasty, in the 8th century. He named it after the name of his friend and general Champa, also known later as Champaraj. By the later 15th century, the Khichi Chauhan Rajputs held Pavagadh fort above the town of Champaner. The young Sultan of Gujarat, Mahmud Begada, deciding to attack Champaner, started towards it with his army on 4 December 1482. After defeating the Champaner army, Mahmud captured the town and besieged Pavagadh, the well-known hill-fortress, above Champaner, where king Jayasimha had taken refuge. He captured the Pavagadh fort on 21 November 1484, after a siege of 20 months. He then spent 23 years rebuilding and embellishing Champaner, which he renamed Muhammadabad, after which he moved the capital there from Ahmedabad. In 1535, after chasing away Bahadur Shah, Humayun personally led some 300 Mughals to scale the fort on spikes driven into rock and stonework in a remote and unguarded part of the citadel built over a precipitous hillside on Pavagadh Hill. Large heaps of gold, silver and jewels were the war booty even though Bahadur Shah had managed to escape to Diu. Champaner is today the site of the Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, which UNESCO designated a World Heritage Site in 2004.

There are eleven different types of buildings at the UNESCO-protected Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, including mosques, temples, granaries, tombs, wells, walls, and terraces. The monuments are situated at the foot of and around the Pavagadh Hill. The Baroda Heritage Trust lists 114 monuments in the area, of which only 39 are maintained by the Archeological Survey of India, due to limited funding.

Jama Masjid (also, Jami Masjid) dates from 1513; construction was carried out over 125 years. It is one of the most notable monuments built by Sultan Mahmud Begada. The Mughal architecture is said to have drawn from the architecture of the Sultanates, which is a blend of Hindu religious connotations and workmanship with Muslim ethos; the large domes are indicative of such a mix.

The mosque is considered one of the finest in Western India with its elegant interiors. The ornamentation of the surface areas of the mosque and tomb consists of symbols of motifs of the Sun, diamonds, pots and vines, and lotus insignia which were used in the earlier temples.

The building is two-storied, with both Islamic and Hindu styles of decoration. The plan is rectangular with the entrance on the east side. There is a portico which has a large dome built over a podium. There are steps to the mosque from northern and southern directions. Tall octagonal minarets 30 metres in height are situated on both sides of the main carved entrance. A typical Gujarat style of architecture is seen in the form of oriel windows with distinctive carvings on the outer surface. The carved roof contains several domes, and the courtyard is large. There are seven mihrabs and the entrance gates are carved and fitted with fine stone jalis.

Multiple prayer halls are separated by almost 200 pillars. The main prayer hall has eleven domes, with the central dome, a double-storied structure, built on pillars in an arcade form. The ruler's prayer hall is separated from the main area by jalis. There is a double clerestory in one of the domes. Other interior features include an arcuate maqsurah screen, trabeate hypostyle iwan, double square side wings, zanana enclosure, and screened off northern mihrab.