Ota Valikhon Tora Mosque

History

The Ota Valikhon Tora Mosque is an early-20th-century monument in Namangan. It was built to a design by Mullah Kyrgyz, the architect of the madrasa that bears the same name, so together the two buildings illustrate Namangan's school of architecture at the start of the 20th century. The mosque still serves as a Friday mosque. It stands about a kilometre north-east of the Mullah Kyrgyz Madrasa, so the two are easy to see on one walk.

Architecture

The mosque has a rectangular plan: a spacious prayer hall in the centre, wrapped on three sides by 11 cells under balkhi vaults. The main facade faces east, the portal gate is decorated with girih and islimi patterns, and corner towers end in small lanterns. The hall is covered by a double dome 13.9 metres across, its weight carried down to arches rising along eight faces set into the drum wall. This technique freed the interior from heavy masonry and kept the inner and outer brickwork in proportion.

Ornamental inscriptions run between the drum windows, and blue tiled borders enliven the interior. A deep arched mihrab niche is set in the west wall, and two arched windows flank each side of the portal. Its scale, structural solution and monumental presence give the mosque a special place among Namangan's monuments.