Mosque architecture

Though Muslims have been living in Nepal from the 15th century, they have started practicing their religious activities freely only after enactment of new civil code in 1963. This paper aims to explore the potentials and problems on the existing mosques, perception of the religious structures by Muslim community and analysing of existing legal and institutional framework before drawing a conclusion. The research methodology consists of combination of field visit and collection of detailed information, structured questionnaire survey and consultation with local leaders and municipal staffs. Detailed analysis of ‘Jame Masjid’ in Kathmandu and another ‘Masjid’ at Trishuli Bazaar in Bidur reveals that these mosques have become the centre of practising Islamic culture, promoting brotherhood among Muslim communities, learning place of Islamic education, besides their sentimental attachment. Social harmony between Muslims and other religious communities together with coexistence of mosques and ‘madrasa’ with Hindu religious structures in the same vicinity has presented a unique situation. However, inadequate information, low level of awareness among the mosque visitors and above all lack of government’s specific plans and policies have hampered the conservation and development of mosque architectural and Islamic culture. To reverse this trend,development of mosques as Islamic cultural and community development centre, incorporation of salient features ofIslamic culture into local planning and building codes as well as in school syllabus and networking with domestic and international organisations working for local development is suggested.

In this paper, the system of language and architecture has been studied in three levels of elemental, structural and semantic in cases of traditional and modern mosques in Iran through the method of analyzing the content of texts and in a conceptual model. Then, in a comparative method, the common patterns of these systems have been explained at all three levels. The common features at the elemental level included double-edged signs, the notion of sign value, as well as syntagmatic relations. Concepts such as the two-way functioning of the systems, textuality and spatial cohesion were identified at the structural level. The concepts of marking, explicit and implicit meanings, and metaphors were investigated at the semantic level of the architecture of the mosques. In the following, the variables were categorized in tables based on the concepts and the data were analyzed through inferential analysis. Then, the findings were coded based on the indices of each variable. On this basis, it became clear that the common patterns, the mental forms of the language sign system can be translated into the physical forms of the architecture system through representation. The respondent also reads or interprets based on a picture or a represented form when confronting the representation. The research findings indicate that readings are based on the collective language and interpretations are based on the individual’s personal language. In the meantime, the cultural, historical, and ethnic contexts, as well as the role of mass media are of high prominence.