BADSHAHI MASQUE

BADSHAHI MASQUE

The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb built the Badshahi Mosque ( بادشاھی مسجد), or the 'Emperor's Mosque', in 1673 inLahore, Pakistan. The mosque displays an excellent example of Mughal era architecture. The second largest mosque in Pakistan, after the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, the anctuary accommodates over 55,000 worshipers. Jama Masjid in Delhi, India, closely resembles the architecture and design of the Ba dshahi Masjid.

The Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, completed in 1673, had been designed and constructed as the compliment to Lahore Fort. Lahore Fort had been rebuilt over a century earlier , in 1566, by Mughal emperor Akbar. The symbolism of building the aesthetically pleasing Badshahi Mosque across from the formidable Lahore Fort gave the combined impression of beauty and grace with strength and power. That combination captures the gist of Mughal architecture. The Mughals introduced to Indian architecture that has come to symbolize the beauty and mystique of Indian civilization.

SincePakistan split from India in 1947, Pakistan has uplifted the Badshahi Mosque and Fort Lahore as symbols of the nation. The size of Badshahi Mosque is difficult to comprehend. It may have been the largest building in the world during the seventeenth century. Fifty-five-thousand worshipers could gather together for prayers in the mosque.

That is the equivalent to many sports stadiums. The Badshahi Mosque displays the immense power and spirituality of Islam, like Hagia Sophia in Constantinople during the sixth to fifteenth centuries did for Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Built under the patronage of the sixth Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb Alamgir,

the mosque came to completion in 1673. Aurangzeb's foster brother M

uzaffar Hussain (also known as Fidaie Khan Koka), governor of Lahore 1671 to 1675, supervised the building. He also served as Master of Ordnance to the emperor. The construction of the mosque took about two years from May 1671 to April 1673.

Built opposite the Lahore Fort, a position that illustrated its importance in the Mughal Empire, Badshahi Mosque took an honored place in the empire. In conjunction with the building of Badshahi, the Emperor had a new gate built at the fort named Alamgiri Gate.

Badshahi Mosque had badly dam aged and misused during Sikh Rule. When the Sikhs ruled Lahore, they used the mosque for horse stables for the many horses, camels, and other animals that they used. They also would steal the jewels from the mosque, such as marble, rubies, gold, and other valuables.

Sikhs forbade Muslims from entering the mosque to worship, the government granting only a small place outside the mosque where they could worship. 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.

"Bound by common belief, Muslims celebrate

end of Ramadan a thet Lahore's Badshahi Mosque. Born when Britain partitioned India in 1947, Pakistan gave Muslims a homeland and haven apart from Hindus. 'We are different beings,' said Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founding father. 'Our names, our clothes, our foods. ... We challenge each other at every point of the compass.'"