Shalbadi Mosque

Shalbadi Mosque stands in Sindurna village in Raipur union of Sadar upazila of Thakurgaon district. Sindurna is about 20 km to the southwest of the district town. The mosque is in the eastern quarter of the village. The area is known as Shalbadi, possibly because of the Shal trees all around.
The inscription bearing the date of construction of the mosque is now found fixed on the wall of a nearby modern mosque. The inscription records 1295 BS (1888 AD) as the date of construction of the mosque, and mentions that it was built for the Shia community by the descendants of the Zamindar of Sitalpur in Purnia district, who came and settled in Sindurna. The mosque has been thoroughly renovated recently and has been extended in the eastern side. The western projection of the mihrab was added in 1994.
It is a square (5.20m x 5.20m on the outside) single domed mosque with a 1.20m wide veranda on the east. This has now been extended and made into a room. There are three arched entrances on the eastern façade; the central one is 0.70m wide and 2.15m high, the flanking arches are smaller than the central one, but these two are equal in size. There are towers in the four corners. There are three mihrabs in the western wall. The central one is bigger than the flanking ones. There are two window one each on the south and north sides. The walls are now plastered and no ornamentation is visible. Local people indicate that the mosque once had surface decorations with floral and creeper motifs.