Niwi Masjid – ‘sunken’ wonder inspires awe
by Ghulam Hussain
Saturday, June 23, 2012

LAHORE: Niwi Masjid (sunken mosque) is one unique historical wonder situated inside the walled city between Shahalmi Gate and the Lohari Gate, in the Koocha Dogran of Nayya Bazaar. The building of this individual-style mosque is centuries old, which was constructed 24-feet lower than ground level. This scribe visited this wonderful mosque and also met its imam, Hafiz Muhammad Siddique, who has been leading prayers here for the last many years and collected some information about the mosque.

The mosque, having three domes and three halls, was built by Nawab Zufikar Khan, an officer of the Lodhi Kingdom. He was the head clerk in the Darbaar of Haibat Khan, governer of Lahore Province. As there were already many mosques of higher or normal plinth, he aspired to do something different. He got the area of the mosque dug about one storey below the ground level, where he later constructed the mosque. A very interesting aspect of the mosque is that the water and sewerage of the building is completely flawless. No wastewater flows outside and despite the mosque standing lower than the ground level, rainwater never accumulated in the mosque’s compound.

The brilliant water disposal system built by the founder of the mosque consisted of two wells – one of them was built at Chowk Mati, a place at some distance from the mosque. Water reached there after travelling a distance of about 30 metres. Today, however, shops have been constructed over the well. Nevertheless, a small board has been put there for the well’s identification. The second well was constructed beneath the mosque and was about 40 feet deep. Both of these wells were used for water disposal purposes, however, Siddique said that 18 years ago, one of the wells (situated inside the mosque) was temporarily closed because of waste accumulation there. The local councillor then got it cleaned with the help of the locals.

According to researchers, there is no other mosque of this kind in the world. Thus the Niwi Masjid is not only a unique structure of Pakistan but of the entire world.

The mosque’s imam said that when Hazrat Majadad Alf Saani (RA) came to Lahore, he offered his Asr prayers in this mosque. Therefore, a Mela of Hazrat Majadad Alf Saani (RA) is celebrated every year in the mosque in the month of Safar. Surprisingly, the mosque’s control and responsibility for upkeep has not been given to either the Department of Archaeology or Auqaf, instead, it is totally run by businessmen of the Nayya Bazaar who are running it in a smooth manner, ensuring its upkeep.

Full article here

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