Sunehri Masjid (Golden Mosque) (built 1749)

 

Sunehri Masjid (Golden Mosque) (built 1749)

The Sunehri Masjid is a relative latecomer to Lahore's traditional cityscape, having been built in 1753 during the waning years of the Mughal empire by Nawab Bhikari Khan, the Deputy of Lahore during the tenure of Governor Mir Mu'in al-Mulk Mir Munoo. It stands on a small plot of land where one street diverges into two.
When Nawab Bhikari Khan acquired the property, it was a vacant parcel of land at the chowk (square) of Kashmiri Bazaar. He was required to obtain a special fatwa from Muslim scholars to construct the mosque, as the local authorities has been concerned that the construction of a building in the square would interrupt the flow of traffic.
The pre-eminent architectural historian Kamil Khan Mumtaz is highly critical of the design, writing:
"On close inspection the corruption of Mughal forms is revealed in every detail. The bulbous Mughal domes are now exaggerated into the form of grotesque vegetables capped with slender drooping leaves. The merlons have become naga hoods, and the column stalks growing out of cabbages that blossom into life-like lotuses."