Wazir Khan Mosque
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Quick Facts
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The Wazir Khan Mosque locally called Masjid Wazir Khan (Punjabi/Urdu: مسجد وزیر خان) in Lahore, Pakistan, is famous for its extensive faience tile work. It has been described as ' A mole on the cheek of Lahore'. It was built in seven years, starting around 1634-1635 AD, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It was built by Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a native of Chiniot, who rose to be the court physician to Shah Jahan and later, the Governor of Lahore. He was commonly known as Wazir Khan. (The word wazir means 'Minister' in Urdu language.) The mosque is located inside the Inner City and is easiest accessed from Delhi Gate.
In 14/12/1993, the Government of Pakistan recommended the inclusion of the Wazir Khan Mosque as a World Heritage Site in UNESCO's World Heritage List, where it has been included in Pakistan's Tentative List for possible nomination to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
In 14/12/1993, the Government of Pakistan recommended the inclusion of the Wazir Khan Mosque as a World Heritage Site in UNESCO's World Heritage List, where it has been included in Pakistan's Tentative List for possible nomination to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
History Of Mosque
The mosque was founded by Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a distinguished physician from Chiniot who received the Ministerial title of 'Wazir Khan' under the reign of Shah Jahan, and was later promoted to the position of Governor of Lahore. He was active in commissioning buildings in Lahore.It was built in seven years, starting around 1634-1635 A.D.
Architecture
Covering an overall area of 279 ° x 159', the mosque is entirely constructed in cut and dressed bricks laid in kankar lime with a scanty sprinkling of red sandstone in the gate and the transept. The courtyard is divided into two parts the upper part is about 6cm higher than the lower with the ablution tank in the middle. The courtyard is flanked on its east, north and south sides by 32 small hujras of different sizes. The prayer chamber on the west side is divided into five compartments by massive piers bearing wide, four centred arches and each compartment is crowned by a dome. At the northern and southern ends of the prayer chamber, a small room has been contrived in the central portion while on the eastern end there is a gallery opening into the spiral staircase lending to the roof. The main structural features of distinction are the four corner minars (Minarets), the five domes and transept at the entrance gate on the east.
Design
The material used in the construction of the Mosque is a small tile-like brick universally used by the Mughals when stone was unusable or too costly. The only stone used in the building is used for brackets and some of the fretwork (Pinjra). The walls were coated with plaster (Chunam) and faced with a finely-soft quality of the same material tooled to a marble-like surface and coloured. All the external plasterwork was richly coloured a rich Indian red, in true fresco, and the surface afterwards picked out with white lines in the similitude of the small bricks beneath. The extreme severity of the lines of the building is relieved by the division of the surfaces into slightly sunk rectangular panels, alternatively vertical and horizontal, the vertical panels having usually an inner panel with arched head or the more florid cusped mihrab. These panels, where they are exposed to weather, are generally filled with a peculiar inlaid faience pottery called kashi, the effect of which must have been very fine when the setting of deep red plaster of the walls was intact.
The facade of the sanctuary is practically covered with kashi and is divided into the usual oblong panels. A beautiful border is carried rectangularly round the centre archway, and inscriptions in Persian characters occur in an outer border, in a long panel over the archway, and in horizontal panels along the upper portions of the lower walls to right and left. The spandrels are filled in with extremely fine designs.
With the minars, however, the facade of the sanctuary, and the entrance gateway, where a small portion of the surface was left for plaster, the effect of the gorgeous colours against the soft blue of a Punjabi sky, and saturated with brilliant sunlight and glowing purple shadow is indescribably rich and jewel-like.
Right and left of the sanctuary are two stately octagonal minars 100 feet in height. On the long sides of the quadrangle are ranged small khanas or cells, each closed by the usual Indian two-leaved door set in a slightly recessed pointed arch, of which there are thirteen on each side by a pavilion rising above the general level, containing larger apartments and an upper story reached by two flights of steps, which also give access to the roof of the arcading and pavilions.These pavilions occur, in the centre of the north and south sides of the lower level of the pavement. In the pavilion on the south side is a fountain set in a circular scalloped basin, and served from the main which supplies the tank in the quadrangle.
Within the inner courtyard of the mosque lies the subterranean tomb of Syed Mohammad Ishaq, known as Miran Badshah (ALLAH Mercy Upon Him), a saint (Olia-e-ALLAH) from Iran who settled in Lahore during the time of the Tughluq dynasty. The tomb, therefore, predates the mosque.
The mosque is surrounded by shops, a serai, houses, and a large hammam, whose income helped support it. The main mosque is built in the brick and tile construction typical of the area, and is remarked for its fine, colourful ornament in paint and kashi work, or glazed tile mosaic. The designs include calligraphy and floral motifs. The mosque is divided into five compartments, each opening into a large courtyard and covered by a dome. The central of these, the main prayer hall, is larger than the rest, and is marked by a high pishtaq, or framed portal, protruding from the facade. Octagonal minarets mark the four corners of the interior courtyard.
The facade of the sanctuary is practically covered with kashi and is divided into the usual oblong panels. A beautiful border is carried rectangularly round the centre archway, and inscriptions in Persian characters occur in an outer border, in a long panel over the archway, and in horizontal panels along the upper portions of the lower walls to right and left. The spandrels are filled in with extremely fine designs.
With the minars, however, the facade of the sanctuary, and the entrance gateway, where a small portion of the surface was left for plaster, the effect of the gorgeous colours against the soft blue of a Punjabi sky, and saturated with brilliant sunlight and glowing purple shadow is indescribably rich and jewel-like.
Right and left of the sanctuary are two stately octagonal minars 100 feet in height. On the long sides of the quadrangle are ranged small khanas or cells, each closed by the usual Indian two-leaved door set in a slightly recessed pointed arch, of which there are thirteen on each side by a pavilion rising above the general level, containing larger apartments and an upper story reached by two flights of steps, which also give access to the roof of the arcading and pavilions.These pavilions occur, in the centre of the north and south sides of the lower level of the pavement. In the pavilion on the south side is a fountain set in a circular scalloped basin, and served from the main which supplies the tank in the quadrangle.
Within the inner courtyard of the mosque lies the subterranean tomb of Syed Mohammad Ishaq, known as Miran Badshah (ALLAH Mercy Upon Him), a saint (Olia-e-ALLAH) from Iran who settled in Lahore during the time of the Tughluq dynasty. The tomb, therefore, predates the mosque.
The mosque is surrounded by shops, a serai, houses, and a large hammam, whose income helped support it. The main mosque is built in the brick and tile construction typical of the area, and is remarked for its fine, colourful ornament in paint and kashi work, or glazed tile mosaic. The designs include calligraphy and floral motifs. The mosque is divided into five compartments, each opening into a large courtyard and covered by a dome. The central of these, the main prayer hall, is larger than the rest, and is marked by a high pishtaq, or framed portal, protruding from the facade. Octagonal minarets mark the four corners of the interior courtyard.
