Shah Jahan Mosque (Thatta)

Exterior facade of the Shah Jahan Mosque

Court arcades ( riwaqs ) and facade ( pishtak ) of the prayer room

The Shah Jahan Mosque in the southern Pakistani city of Thatta in the Sindh region is one of the most important mosque buildings of Mughal architecture . Since 1993 it is on the tentative list for recognition as a UNESCO - World Heritage Site .

history

The building without minarets was commissioned in 1644 by the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan (r. 1627–1658); the names of the architect and the site manager working on site have not been passed down. In 1589, the actual mosque room and the portal area were only completed, but the outer walkways with the two side entrances followed a short time later. The mosque has been restored several times - most recently in the 1960s and 1970s.

architecture

All buildings of the Mughal period consist in their core of bricks , which were clad inside and outside with red sandstone, white marble or stucco; only in the Shah Jahan mosque are they included in the decorative concept, which is mainly based on geometric tile mosaics - which are otherwise rather rare in Mughal architecture . While bricks dominate in the less important rooms, they hardly appear in the interconnected rooms of the broad mosque hall.

In front of the mosque there is a four-part garden in the Persian style ( char-bagh ) with a cross-shaped artificial watercourse and small basins at each end; these were used for the “little ablution” ( wudū ' ) prescribed by the Koran before prayer ( salāt ). The portal consists of a monumental wall ( pischtak ), which encloses a large arch ( iwan ), but does not completely cover the dome of the entrance hall behind it. The external dimensions of the actual mosque are about 105 × 30 m; The greater part of the total area, however, is taken up by an inner courtyard ( sahn ) that is about half the size - but without the otherwise common fountain basin. This is framed by side arcade galleries ( riwaqs ), which are covered with a multitude of domes. The facade of the actual mosque room, dominated by a second Pishtak with an Ivan arch, completely covers the main dome behind it. The interconnected rooms of the mosque hall are richly decorated; the mihrab niche in the main room, half-opened in the lower part by a jali grille, closes off at the top with a ( muqarnas ) dome . To the right of this is the usually six-step sermon pulpit ( minbar ) of the prayer leader ( imam ).