The
Badshahi Mosque (
Imperial Mosque) is a
Mughal era mosque in
Lahore, located in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. The mosque is widely considered to be one of Lahore's most iconic landmarks and one of the most visited spot by tourists in Lahore.
Badshahi Mosque was commissioned by Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1671, with its construction lasting two years and was completed in 1673. The mosque is an important example of
Mughal architecture, wide usage of carved red sandstone with marble inlay as far as the exterior of mosque is concerned. It remains the largest and most recent of the grand imperial mosques of the Mughal-era, and was the largest mosque for 313 years and now stand to be the second largest in Pakistan after Shah Faisal mosque. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, the mosque was used as a
garrison by the
Sikh Empire and the
British Empire, but is now one of Pakistan's most iconic sights.
History:
Aurangzeb ruled for approximately 49 years till his death in 1707, unlikely other Mughal rulers he was strict and to some extent historians says a brutal one but Hindus and Muslims were living in harmony during entire Mughal rule after the fall of Mughal dynasty the Mosque was badly damaged and misused, when Lahore came under Sikh rule, it was being used as a stable for horses and Muslims were forbidden to enter in the mosque. All the jewels such as valuable marbles, rubies and gold mostly were stolen from it.
Even when the British took control of
India, they used the mosque for military training including rifle and cannon fire range. Sensing Muslim hate for them, the British demolished a large portion of the wall of the mosque, rendering the mosque unusable as a rallying place for anti-British planning. The British later returned the mosque to Muslims as a good will gesture, even though the structure had become dilapidated from misuse and neglect. The Badshahi Mosque Authority restored the holy place to its original glory.
Design Characteristics:
Boldness, majesty and power were the things that were focused by the architects in the designing of this its infrastructure The interior has rich embellishment in stucco tracery and paneling with a fresco touch, all in bold relief, as well as marble inlay. Stone carving, as well as marble inlay on red sandstone, especially of motifs in bold relief, decorates the exterior. Embellishments on the mosque display Indo-Greek, Central Asian and Indian architectural influence in technique and motifs.
Beautiful ornamental merlons, inlaid with marble lining, add grace to the perimeter of the mosque and beautify the skyline. In various architectural features, such as the vast square courtyard, the side aisles, the four corner minarets, the projecting central transept of the prayer chamber, and the grand entrance gate, the history of development of mosque architecture of the Muslim world over the thousand years prior to its construction in 1673 culminates.
The north enclosure wall of the mosque had been laid close to the Ravi River bank, denying the building of a majestic gateway on that side. To ensure the symmetry of the gate, no majestic gate could be built on the south side, too. Thus a four plan, like the earlier Delhi Jamia Mosque, had to be abandoned. The walls had been built with small kiln-burnt bricks laid in, lime mortar (a kind of hydraulic lime) but have a veneer of red sandstone. The steps leading to the prayer chamber and its plinth have been constructed with variegated marble.
The prayer chamber, exceptionally deep, divides into seven compartments by rich engraved arches carried on enormously heavy piers. Out of the seven compartments, three double domes finished in marble have artistically superb curvature, while the rest have curvilinear domes with a central rib in their interior and flat roof above. In the eastern front aisle, the ceiling of the compartment runs flat with a curved border at the cornice level.
The original floor of the courtyard had been laid with small kiln-burnt bricks set in the Mussalah pattern. The present red sandstone flooring had been laid during the last extensive repairs from 1939 to 1960). Similarly, the original floor of the prayer chamber had been constructed using cut and dressed bricks with marble and Sang-i-Abri lining, forming Mussalah. During the most recent repairs, they had been replaced by marble Mussalah.
