Chauburji
The Chauburji ( Urdu : چو برجی) is a Mughal gate with four towers ( char = four; burj = tower) in the Pakistani city of Lahore .
location
The gate formerly formed the entrance to a large garden or park ( bagh ) on the southern outskirts of Lahore. Today it stands in the middle of a large traffic island in the center of the city at a height of 213 m above sea level. d. M.
history
The gate was built around 1645/6. Tradition has it that he is associated with the Mughal princess Zeb un-nisa (1638–1702), a daughter of Aurangzeb , but the participation or even leadership of her aunt Jahanara Begum (1614–1681), Shah Jahan's favorite daughter , is very likely . Since the building had been damaged by flooding of the Ravi River and an earthquake in 1843, makeshift repairs were carried out in the 1960s; however, another fundamental restoration is overdue.
Architecture and decor
The core of the two-storey gate, which is built from bricks, but on the outside completely decorated with plaster and colored ceramic inlay, is designed the same on all sides and its dimensions largely correspond to its Persian-Indian models. A high and inwardly recessed central divan is framed by two smaller side arches. All remaining areas are divided into rectangular, more rarely square fields and laid out with small-scale vegetable and abstract tile ornaments, in which blue tones dominate the greenish-yellow and reddish colors. The four corner towers with an octagonal cross-section, which - unlike minarets - widen upwards to form viewing platforms, are prominent structural elements. The inside of the building was also plastered and painted.
Wall decor
Tower platform
inner state
classification
Two and four-tower gate structures can be traced back to Persian-Central Asian models (e.g. mosque of Yazd ); The Charminar in Hyderabad, built around 1590/1, or the gate building of the Akbar mausoleum in Sikandra near Agra , which was built around 1605, should also be mentioned. However, the towers of the models mentioned are all slimmer and more minaret-like .
Web links
- Chauburji - Photos and information (English)
- Chauburji - Photos and information (English)
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 31 ° 33 ′ 15 ″ N , 74 ° 18 ′ 17 ″ E