Abbasi Mosque

{{Short description|Mosque in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan}}

{{for|the mosque in Isfahan|Shah Mosque (Isfahan)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}

{{Use Pakistani English|date=February 2018}}

{{Infobox religious building

|name = Abbasi Mosque

|native_name =

|image = Abbasi Mosque from front.jpg

| image_upright = 1.4

|caption =

|coordinates = {{Coord|28|46|3|N|71|20|13|E|type:landmark_region:PK|display=inline,title}}

|religious_affiliation = Islam

| status = Mosque

| functional_status = Active

|country = Pakistan

|location = Yazman Tehsil, Bahawalpur District, Punjab

|leadership =

|year_completed = 1849

| founded_by = Nawab Bahawal Khan

|architecture_type = {{nowrap|Mosque architecture}}

|architecture_style =

|capacity = 10,000 worshippers

|construction_cost =

|length = {{cvt|128|ft|m|order=flip}}

|width = {{cvt|16|ft|m|order=flip}}

|width_nave =

|height_max =

|dome_quantity = Three

|dome_height_outer =

|dome_height_inner =

|dome_dia_outer =

|dome_dia_inner =

|minaret_quantity = Two

|minaret_height =

|spire_quantity =

|spire_height =

|materials =

|website =

| footnotes =

}}

The Abbasi Mosque, or Derawar Mosque, and locally known as Jamia Masjid‑e‑Abbasi, is a mosque located close to Derawar Fort in Yazman Tehsil, in the Cholistan Desert in Bahawalpur District, in the Punjab, province of Pakistan.{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1230706|title=9 historical Pakistani mosques that will transport you to another time|first=|last=|date=10 January 2016|publisher=Dawn}} It has a capacity to hold 10,000 worshippers.{{Cite web|url=https://sunotv.com/14-02-2023/13614/|title=چولستان میں جامعہ مسجد عباسیہ اپنی پوری شان و شوکت کے ساتھ موجود| website=Suno TV}}

History

Abbasi Mosque was built by Nawab Bahawal Khan in 1849.{{cite web |title=Built by Nawab Bahawal Khan in 1849 |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1230706 |website=Dawn.com |accessdate=24 June 2018}} It was built like the Shah Jahani Masjid in Delhi, using the same construction materials.{{Cite web|url=https://urdu.dunyanews.tv/index.php/ur/Pakistan/291110|title=جامعہ عباسیہ شاہی مسجد چولستان کے ماتھے کا جھومر

|website=Dunya News}}

Architecture

Abbasi Mosque features a {{convert|16|ft|m|order=flip|adj=mid|-wide}}, {{convert|128|ft|m|order=flip|adj=mid|-long}} prayer hall and is crowned by three bulbous marble domes that dominate the surrounding dunes. Two octagonal minarets flank a tri‑arched façade carved in low‑relief Qurʼanic calligraphy, while marble jharoka balconies evoke a late‑Mughal aesthetic.{{cite web |url=https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/1843/pakistan/bahawalpur/abbasi-derawar-mosque |title=Abbasi (Derawar) Mosque |website=Asian Historical Architecture |access-date=11 May 2025}}

Constructed entirely of polished marble, the building moderates desert heat and bathes its interior in diffused light that enters through pierced screens set high above the mihrab. The paved courtyard and prayer hall together can accommodate about ten thousand worshippers, a capacity that once enabled the Bahawalpur nawabs to conduct state ceremonies beneath its domes.

Historically, the main entrance housed servants' quarters and the lower portion comprised a hostel and a library.

See also

{{stack|{{portal|Islam|Pakistan}}}}

References

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