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Paradise Portal (North Portal, Castle Portal, Entrance Portal, Main Portal)

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Though all of the portals in the complex are beautiful in their own manner, this portal is the most splendid and magnificent. Known also as the Castle Portal because it faces the castle, the North Portal because it faces north, the Main Portal because this is the portal through which the congregation enters, it is most widely known as the Paradise Portal. It is known as the paradise portal because all of the decorations depict paradise. All of the verses in the Koran describing paradise and the blessings of paradise are engraved on the portal. Because they were describing paradise, the decorations were all the more wonderful and unique. The portal was made to resemble a garden of paradise in order to portray paradise and all of its blessings. In the star-shaped border to the right an inscription that reads, “may the just sultan’s happiness, sovereignty and felicity be eternal” is in symmetrical opposition to the line from the Ayatul Kursi “There is no God but Allah, there is only Him”. At the top there is an inscription that reads “In the time of the powerful Sultan and Caliph’s assistant Alâeddin Keykubat”. The name of the Seljuk Sultan Alâeddin Keykubat was inscribed on the Paradise Portal to express the Beylik’s allegiance to the Seljuk state.

The portal bears designs of the tree of life and of rosettes signifying eternity. The tree of life signifies paradise and life in the hereafter. The flaming cauldrons below serve as an understated reminder of hell. In fact, the flaming cauldrons were symbols of the abundance and blessings possessed by the Anatolian Seljuks and were used on the portal to signify paradise. The absence of designs on the columns above the cauldrons emphasizes the emptiness of hell in comparison to the beauties of paradise.

This portal is also called the Main Portal because it is the portal through which the congregation enters the mosque. It is significant that paradise was portrayed in such compelling manner to the arriving congregation. At first light during the summer months the silhouette of a woman appears.

The inscription on the portal is one of the structure’s most distinctive features. The inscription is composed of five main parts, spectacularly framed by vegetative decoration.  The inscription contains the phrase “Ahmet Shah, son of Süleyman Shah, pitiful slave in need of Allah’s mercy decreed the construction of this mosque in one of the months of the year 626 Hijri”  The beginning and end of the inscription are framed on the right by roses and on the left by nightingales. The rose symbolizes the Prophet and the nightingale symbolizes the Prophet’s love.

Düzey Ajans Reklam Organizasyon