ISLAMABAD: Wazir Khan Mosque was rediscovered Friday at the National Art Gallery when Memoona Khan introduced her book she had written on its ancient architecture.
The associate professor, author and chairperson at fine arts department Government Postgraduate College Rawalpindi Memoona Khan had named her book Wazir Khan Mosque (Rediscovered) and focused on the ornamentation of the Mughal edifice of Shahjehan’s period that she described as “a fine specimen of Muslim architectonic decorations”.
According to the author ornamentation referred to elements that bedecked the monument – designs, motives and especially inscriptions that are integral part of decorative scheme of the mosque. Inscriptions included Quranic verses, Hadith and adages by saints and mystics.
“The mosque is replete with simple and intricate motifs. Not even a centimetre is left unadorned,” said the writer during her presentation at the launch.
The gathering learnt that this was the first time that inscriptions bedecking the mosque were fully documented in this book.
Moreover calligraphic styles based on their ancient models were sorted out and defined.
Documentation of motifs also accompanied their analysis. Star shape was the most commonly used motif in the mosque in amazing formations. It directed the probing mind to find out the undercurrents of orderliness of this shape because of the rhythm of their intricate shapes.
It happened in the desire to document all the motifs used in the decorative scheme of the mosque that many new dimensions of Muslim decorations were explored that were helpful to expand the peripheries of Muslim sense of ornamentation.
According to the book, keen observation deciphered the role of science as guiding principle of Muslim adornments.
The author also revealed that ornamental scheme of this edifice kept in the guise of its motifs the basic model of atom generally known as Bohr’s atomic model that he gave in 1913, almost three centuries after the mosque was built.
The book was an embodiment of not only ornamentations of the mosque but focused on the undercurrents of rhythm and orderliness – the hallmark of Muslim ornamental designs.
It successfully established the fact that erudition of the Muslim artists was not confined to the field of art only rather their versatility enwrapped other disciplines as well.
In the end speakers took turns to appreciate the effort.
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