The Serene Beauty of Wazir Khan Mosque

Wazir Khan Mosque is sit­u­at­ed in Old city near Dehli Gate. It was built by Wazir Khan, Gov­er­nor of Lahore, in the peri­od of Mughal Emper­or Shah Jahan. Wazir Khan’s actu­al name was Hakim Shaikh Ilmud­din Ansari, but he was famous by for­mer name. He was com­mon­ly known as Wazir Khan (wazir means min­is­ter in Urdu). Pri­or to becom­ing Gov­er­nor, Wazir Khan was the court physi­cian to Shah Jehan.

Mosque was com­plet­ed in Sev­en Years. Con­struc­tion start­ed in 1634 AD & com­plet­ed in 1641. It is famous for its mar­velous faience tile work. Out­stand­ing archi­tec­tur­al fea­tures are its octag­o­nal four cor­ner minarets 107 feet high dec­o­rat­ed with mosa­ic tiles. Mosque is dec­o­rat­ed with glazed mosaics and is one of the most beau­ti­ful in Pakistan.The mosque is made of brick and faced with bright­ly coloured glazed tile mosaics of Mughal flo­ral designs on the clear yel­low back­ground. All the paint­ings are care­ful­ly restored by the few remain­ing Islam­ic craft­men in Pakistan.Beautiful Pigeons fly­ing in the court­yard area increase the beau­ty of mosque.

To reach this mosque you have to walk through the crowd­ed old city out­side the walls of the Lahore Fort. You can prob­a­bly spot some of the mosque’s minarets as you walk. Locat­ed in Lahore’s inner city, the Wazir Khan Mosque is on the ten­ta­tive list as a UNESCO World Her­itage site and is one of the most spec­tac­u­lar sights in Pakistan’s cul­tur­al cap­i­tal.

Pho­tos by: Nad-e-Ali