Nizamat Imambara, Murshidabad

The Nizamat Imambara, standing directly opposite the Hazarduari Palace, is the largest imambara (Shia Muslim congregation hall) in India and one of the largest in the world. The present structure was built in 1847 by Nawab Nazim Mansur Ali Khan Feradun Jah, after the original wooden imambara built by Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah was destroyed by fires in 1842 and 1846. Remarkably, the enormous 680-foot-long building was completed in only 11 months, at a cost of more than 6 lakh rupees — an immense sum at the time. It is said the Nawab was so eager to finish it that workers were paid handsome daily wages and work continued day and night. The Imambara is divided into three large quadrangles. The central hall, called the Medina, is believed to contain sacred earth brought from Karbala in Iraq, making it especially holy for Shia devotees. The building comes alive during Muharram, when it opens fully to the public and grand processions and traditional lamentation ceremonies commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain — a tradition continuing since the Nawabi era. Between the Imambara and the palace stand the elegant Madina Mosque built by Siraj-ud-Daulah (the only surviving structure of the original complex), the Clock Tower and the famous Bacchawali Tope cannon. Visited together with Hazarduari Palace, it completes the picture of Nizamat Fort campus — the ceremonial heart of Nawabi Murshidabad.