Badshahi Mosque

 The word Badshahi is derived from the word Badshah which means king. Badshahi mosque was build by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Badshahi mosque was build in 1673. Badshahi mosque is located in Lahore. Badshahi mosque is very beautiful mosque  in Pakistan. Badshahi mosque is largest mosque in Pakistan and in South Asia and is and is 6th largest mosque in the world. In 1993, the Government of Pakistan recommended the inclusion of the Badshahi Mosque as a World Heritage Site in UNESCO's World Heritage List, where it has been included in Pakistan's Tentative List for possible nomination to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
he Badshahi Mosque was built opposite the Lahore Fort, emphasizing its stature in the Mughal Empire. It was constructed on a raised platform to avoid inundation from the nearby Ravi River during flooding. The Mosque's foundation and structure was constructed using bricks and compacted clay. The structure was then cladded with red sandstone tiles brought from a stone quarry near Jaipur in Rajasthan. The architecture and design of the Badshahi Mosque closely resembles that of the slightly smaller Jama Mosque in Delhi, India, which was built in 1648 by Aurangzeb's father and predecessor, Emperor Shah Jahan. Its design was inspired by Islamic, Persian, Central Asian and Indian influences. Like the character of its founder, the Mosque is bold, vast and majestic in its expression.
The interior of Main Prayer Hall is richly embellished with stucco tracery (Manbatkari), fresco work, and inlaid marble.
The exterior is decorated with stone carving as well as marble inlay on red sandstone, specially of lotiform motifs in bold relief. The embellishment has Indo-Greek, Central Asian and Indian architectural influence both in technique and motifs. n 2000, the repair work of marble inlay in the main vault was repaired under the supervision of Saleem Anjum Qureshi. On the occasion of the second Islamic Summit held at Lahore on February 22, 1974, thirty-nine heads of Muslim states offered their Friday prayers in the Badshahi Masjid, led by Maulana Abdul Qadir Azad, the 'Khatib' of the mosque.

Recently a small museum has also been added to the mosque complex, which contains relics of Muhammad, his cousin, and his daughter, Hazrat Fatima Zahra. http://funaziz.blogspot.com/