uilt on the orders of the great Moghul emperor Aurangzaib Alamgir, the Badshahi Masjid is among the largest mosques in the world. As the oral history goes, the emperor was visiting Lahore, and he happened to lead the prayers at a small mosque at the same site. Seeing so many people praying behind him, he ordered a mosque to be built there. It was to be large enough to accommodate big congregations.

The construction was completed in the year 1674. (It may be recalled that the largest mosque ever built was at Samarra, a few miles from the Abbasid’s capital, Baghdad. It, however, is no longer a place of worship. Its walls were punctured at various points by trespassers. Besides, it’s not known as to how much of the place has survived since the carpet bombing by the then US President Bush whose shoe size turned out to be No 42, ‘donated’ by a protestor. Though, no weapons of mass destruction were found.)

300 years later, in the year 1974, the Islamic countries of the world held a summit in Lahore, and all the participating heads of state offered namaz at the mosque. An event of such great importance hadn’t happened before in the annals of history. (Another fact: many of the participating heads of state were doomed to be assassinated, including the chairman of the summit.)

The site where this mosque was built was a large area in front of the Lahore Fort that had been further expanded and rebuilt by the great Mughal emperor Akbar during his long sojourn in the city in the years 1584-98. Akbar built a gate facing the wall of the city which is lofty and looks formidable. The present one facing the mosque had a very beautiful shape and proportion but didn’t serve to inspire fear and awe in the hearts of the invaders.

The design of the mosque was inspired by Shah Jahan’s mosque in Chandni Chowk, in Old Delhi, which has two minarets (compared to Badshahi’s four). The mosque in Delhi has three monumental gates on the east, south and north. Lahore’s premier mosque has only one gate, due to the river Ravi which used to flow along the northern side of the Fort; hence, they built only one gate facing the Fort.

The Fort is built over a hillock which steadily rises for a better view of any one approaching it. The Badshahi Masjid too has been built on a high plinth. A flight of steps approaches its single gate from three sides.

The Ravi used to be navigable, and there were steps descending into water on one of its side gates, where lamps would be placed at night. No wonder it came to be known as Roshnai Darwaza.

The area in front of the Fort has a ramp. Its entrance is too high for the elephants to pass through. From the top, one gets a commanding view of the mosque gate and beyond — ie the courtyard and the prayer chamber comprising three domes. The gate of the mosque has an inscription carrying the name of the emperor, which is quite rare as Mughal monuments generally do not include inscriptions.

The gate did not have a door, as Allah’s house is not supposed to close at any time. Yet, a party of Sikhs exploited the place’s fort-like defence structure by removing the canopies of the minarets, placing light mountain cannons on these and bombarding the other Sikhs holed up in the Fort. Eventually, they were victorious because of the building’s high position.

Before that, the place had also been used as a horse stable. Its vast courtyard had many trees which sadly have long been felled.

The Badshahi Masjid was not handed back to the Muslims even after the British took over from the Sikhs. It was in 1934 that it was returned, but only after demolishing its eastern wall, in order to render it incapable of defence in the event of an uprising. Memories of 1857 were still fresh in the imperialist minds.

Interestingly, the Lahore Railway Station, too, was built with fort-like turrets.

*****

Once inside the courtyard, the visitors have to put up with the heated floor tiled in Fatehpur Sikri red sandstone. Originally, the floor was covered with Mughal bricks. Bricks being more porous do not heat up as sandstone does. (It may be mentioned here that the idea of covering the floor with red sandstone is the handiwork of some ‘conservation quacks.’)

The Fatehpur Sikri sandstone is very hard, and distinguished by its small white specks. It is much sought after by the butchers for sharpening their knives, and must’ve been stolen by them in huge quantities. The stone imported from India was left unattended near the northern wall of the Fort.

The chore fabric of the Badshahi Masjid along its walls, arches, domes and minarets is in local bricks. The red-and-white colour scheme is only thanks to its sandstone and marble claddings.

Lahore has no stone in its geology. All stone used in the city is imported from outside. Also, not all stone used in paving the courtyard was sourced from Fatehpur Sikri. The pieces of inferior quality have worn off at some places.

The area in front of the sanctuary façade has been raised a bit, apparently to prevent rainwater flooding. A large water tank in white marble, with a facility for ablution, is also there.

*****

Recently, I happened to visit the Badshahi Masjid when I was required to give a lecture/ talk at an event arranged by the postgraduate students of the National College of Arts.

No visuals can recreate the impact of comparing the human scale with the monumental height of the building. The façade of the prayer chamber is highly imposing, with the central arch set inside a tall battlemented parapet. The receding half dome, with multi-foiled arch, accommodates the actual entrance in white marble. On either side are five small arches, making a total of eleven arches.

The tall façade emphasises the central, bulbous dome behind it. These three domes have the finest geometric curvature seen anywhere in the world. I remember that while I was doing my master’s thesis on domes in Lahore, I was fascinated by their double shells. Their necks are narrow while the domes’ diameter is wide, making them bulbous. The idea of double shells is to have imposing height yet reduce the height from the inside to control unnecessary echo. This arrangement also allows insulation against extremities of weather.

The roofed area consists of three undersurfaces of domes, with a vault between each and on the sides comprising five additional vaults. There is an abundance of high-relief stucco work — the like of which was once found in Asif Khan and Ali Mardan Khan’s tombs that unfortunately are fast disappearing.

The whole mosque is a symphony in red and white, which appears to be the complete colour scheme requiring no other hue. Rosettes in white marble exquisitely carved in alto relief and fitted into corresponding grooves have stood the test of over three centuries. None has fallen down. The four minarets placed at the corners are among the finest, second only to the ones at Jehangir’s tomb.

The upper canopies were thankfully restored while the earlier generation of craftsmen was still available. These have winding staircases with light slights at varying places. The three stories are marked with balconies and topped with a marble cupola. An arch is diagonally placed at each level to give a clear view of the prayer chamber.

While the minarets at Chauburji and Jehangir’s tomb are solid for the ground floor serving as buttresses, the ones at the mosque are approached from the ground. There used to be an entry fee, but due to some suicide incidents in the past, the public are no longer allowed to witness the vista of the city which is incomparable, to say the least.

There are four smaller minarets buttressing the corners of the prayer chamber. With so many cupolas and guldastas pointing towards the skyline there is interaction between the monument and the horizon.

When we visited it, some repairs were being carried out. “Whatever is beautiful is old, and whatever is ugly is new,” remarked a student. The increasing number of visitors was evident from the plastic wrappers and bottles dotting the expanse. Just outside the mosque there was a man offering to release house sparrows against ransom and there was no one to put him to shame.

I got a Whatsapp message about a musical evening at the Fort. It had been arranged to honour of the late Hayat Ahmad Khan who would have strongly protested such disgraceful acts.

It must be said that the walls aren’t meant for such activities. The Conservation Society has long protested it. We maintain that the Badshahi Masjid is the ultimate expression of mosque architecture, and that it must be kept as such.

(This dispatch is dedicated to Prof Naseem Hafiz Qazi, an authority on Muslim architecture)

The writer is a painter, a founding member of Lahore Conservation Society and Punjab Artists Association, and a former director of NCA Art Gallery. He can be reached at ajazart@brain.net.pk