Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visit the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. They visited all parts of the mosque bare-footed, while they were shown around different parts of the beautiful 17th century Mughal era mosque by Khateeb Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad.
Image Credit: Reuters
Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visits the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. Kate Middleton wore green coloured eastern dress (shalwar-qameez) and covered her head with 'dupatta' in reverence to the sacred place of worship of Muslims.
The Badshahi Mosque is a Mughal era masjid in Lahore, capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab , Pakistan. The mosque is located west of Lahore Fort along the outskirts of the Walled City of Lahore, and is widely considered to be one of Lahore's most iconic landmarks. The Badshahi Mosque was built by Emperor Aurangzeb in 1671, with construction of the mosque lasting for two years until 1673. The mosque is an important example of Mughal architecture, with an exterior that is decorated with carved red sandstone with marble inlay. It remains the largest mosque of the Mughal-era, and is the second-largest mosque in Pakistan. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, the mosque was used as a garrison by the Sikh Empire and the British Empire, and is now one of Pakistan's most iconic sights.
The mosque is located adjacent to the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan. The entrance to the mosque lies on the western side of the rectangular Hazuri Bagh, and faces the famous Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort, which is located on the eastern side of the Hazuri Bagh. The mosque is also located next to the Roshnai Gate, one of the original thirteen gates of Lahore, which is located to the southern side of the Hazuri Bagh. Near the entrance of the mosque lies the Tomb of Muhammad Iqbal, a poet widely revered in Pakistan as the founder of the Pakistan Movement which led to the creation of Pakistan as a homeland for the Muslims of British India. Also located near the mosque's entrance is the tomb of Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, who is credited for playing a major role in preservation and restoration of the mosque.
Lahore was considered a strategic center as it protected the empire from potential invaders from the west. The city was made an imperial capital by the earlier Emperor, Akbar, who established the nearby Lahore Fort. The sixth Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, chose Lahore as the site for his new imperial mosque. Aurangzeb, unlike the previous emperors, was not a major patron of art and architecture and instead focused , during much of his reign, on various military conquests which added over 3 million square kilometres to the Mughal realm. The mosque was built to commemorate military campaigns against the Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, although construction of the mosque exhausted the Mughal treasury and weakened the Mughal state. As a symbol of the mosque's importance, it was built directly across from the Lahore Fort and its Alamgiri Gate, which was concurrently built by Aurangzeb during construction of the mosque.
Courtesy : Wikipedia
Courtesy : Wikipedia
