One of the very few surviving structures of Goa‘s Muslim era, the Safa Shahouri mosque in the town of Ponda was built in 1560 during the reign of Ibrahim Adilshah, sultan of Bijapur. The photograph below was shot on a serene winter morning in 2007. Notice the Goan touch, such as the tiled roof and the laterite masonry at the base and around the tank.
Safa Shahouri Mosque (1560) in Ponda, Goa
5D, 24-105L
Although I hadn’t seen it at the time the photo was taken, I thought the marvelous sketch of the mosque made by the recently departed Mario Miranda provides an interesting point of artistic interpretation. It is taken from the book Inside Goa (1982) by Manohar Malgonkar with illustrations by Mario, and reproduced here with permission of the Mario Gallery. Mario’s work may be purchased online at http://www.mariodemiranda.com.
Illustration by Mario Miranda from 'Inside Goa'
(Reproduced with permission of the publisher)
