Sunehri Mosque, Lahore
The Sunehri Mosque, also known as the Talai Mosque, is a late Mughal architecture-era mosque in the Walled [City of Lahore], capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab.
Location
Sunehri Mosque is located in the Walled City of Lahore.History
Unlike the Wazir Khan Mosque and Badshahi Mosque which were built at the zenith of the Mughal Empire in the 17th century, the Sunehri Mosque was built in 1753 when the empire was in decline.The architect of the mosque was Nawab Bukhari Khan, deputy governor of Lahore during the reign of Muhammad Shah. Local shopkeeper had objected to the construction of a large mosque in a congested area, so Bukhari Khan acquired a fatwa from local religious leaders in order for construction to begin.
After Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore in 1799, the mosque came under Sikh control and was temporarily used for non-Islamic purposes, which caused sorrow among the Muslim population. Maharaja Ranjit Singh later returned the mosque to Muslims, restoring it for Islamic worship, and donated gold for its domes, giving the mosque its famous golden domes. This act reflected his policy of religious accommodation and respect for different faiths.
Architecture
The mosque was built on a plinth elevated 11 feet off of the bazaars surface, with shops occupying the ground floor beneath the mosque. The shops rents were used to pay for the mosque's upkeep. The architectural style of the mosque reflects influences of Sikh architecture from nearby Amritsar.The staircase in front of the mosque has 16 steps, and opens up to a small courtyard measuring 65 feet by 43 feet. An ablution tank is in the centre of this courtyard. The prayer chamber measures 40 feet long, and 16 feet wide. The mosque has a gateway, which measures 21.3 metres in length and a courtyard that measures.The marble domes cover seven prayer chambers. Four lofty minarets stand at the four corners of the mosque, each with an outer circumference of, soaring up to.