Who was the architect of Faisal Masjid, Vedat Daloke?

A Capital Development Authority (CDA) press release on November 20, 1969 stated that an international competition for the design of the National Mosque (later renamed the Faisal Mosque) in Islamabad by renowned Turkish architect Vedat Dilke was held. won.

The jury unanimously adjudged Vedat Daloke’s map as the first, who also won the first prize of Rs 90,000.

The maps of two Turkish architects Sangiz Uzair and Nihat Bandwal were awarded the second and third positions respectively. Both of them were given cash prize of 30 thousand and 20 thousand rupees respectively.

Around 1965, the government of Pakistan decided to build a mosque at the foot of the Margalla hills in Islamabad, which would not only be the center of attention of the entire Islamabad, but also the center of Pakistan. Become an identity.

An international competition was held for the design of this mosque, organized by CDA and Pakistan Construction Institute under the supervision of International Association of Architects, and only Muslim experts were invited to participate.

In the competition, 47 maps were received from 17 countries. Apart from Pakistan, these countries included Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Iraq and Yugoslavia.

The jury began sitting on November 17, 1969 to examine these maps.

The jury included architects from Pakistan, Turkey and Lebanon while CDA Chairman General KM Shaikh was the president of the jury.

In 1966, when King Faisal bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia visited Pakistan, he offered to bear a large part of the expenses for the construction of the mosque, which the government of Pakistan gladly accepted.

According to a report in Daily Times, the total cost of the mosque was 450 million dollars, of which 17 million dollars was contributed by the Pakistani government, while 28 million dollars was provided by Saudi Arabia.

It was for this reason that after his assassination in 1975, the government of Pakistan announced to name this mosque after him on November 28, 1975.

On October 12, 1976, King Faisal’s successor, King Khalid bin Abdulaziz, laid the foundation stone of this mosque and its formal construction began.

Turkish architects are recognized worldwide for their unique projects.

At the time when Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum was under construction, a Turkish architect, Wasfi Ejili, had prepared a beautiful design for this mausoleum, which could not be approved.

In 1974, a Turkish architect, Seydad Haki Eldam, designed the Pakistan Embassy in Ankara.

In 1984, two Turkish architects, H. Ozbey and T. Bizbug, designed the Awari Tower in Karachi.

The design of Faisal Masjid was completely different from all existing mosques not only in Pakistan but also in the Islamic world.

Its basic idea was derived from a vast tent with four towering minarets at its four corners framing the masjid’s beauty.

These towers refer to the nails used to anchor the tabernacle to the ground.

The construction of this design was a very difficult task, but the Pakistani construction company Pakistan National Construction Company accepted the challenge.

After 10 years of day and night construction, the project was completed on June 2, 1986, on 23 Ramadan 1406 Hijri, and thus the dream seen in 1965 became a reality after two decades.

The total area of ​​Shah Faisal Mosque is 46.87 acres, of which the area of ​​the inner hall of the mosque is 1.19 acres.

100,000 worshipers can pray simultaneously in the hall and 200,000 in the courtyard and outside the hall.

In 1992, Guinness Book of Records declared Faisal Mosque as the largest mosque in the world.

The architect of the Shah Faisal Mosque, Vedat Daluke, was born on November 10, 1927 in Elazig, Turkey.

After receiving his primary education in Elazig, he moved to Istanbul where he graduated in construction from Istanbul Technical University in 1949.

His teachers at Istanbul Technical University included Clemens Holzmeister and Paul Bonitz.

After graduation, he served in the Turkish Ministry of Works and Post and Telecommunication Department.

In 1950, he moved to Paris, where he enrolled at the prestigious Sorbonne University for post-graduation in urban studies, but could not complete it.

However, in France he had the opportunity to work with famous architects Auguste Perret and Le Corbusier.

1954 he returned home where he established his architectural firm in Ankara.

From 1964 to 1968, he was the chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Architects and the general secretary of the Turkish Chamber of Architects.

In 1957, he designed the Khoja Tepe Mosque in Ankara, but due to some problems and criticism, his design was rejected.

In 1969, he participated in an international design competition for the National Mosque to be built in Islamabad and won the first position.

It was more or less the same design he prepared for the Khoja Tepe Mosque in Ankara.

Among other projects of Vedat Daluke, Islamic Development Bank, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is prominent. This building was constructed in 1981.

Vedita Daluke is generally known as the architect of the Shah Faisal Mosque, but few people know that he also designed the Summit Minar in Lahore, which was built to commemorate the Second Islamic Summit in Pakistan. .

This minaret was built in the middle of Punjab Assembly Building, Wapda House and Al Falah Building in Faisal Square, Lahore.

The summit minaret, made of marble, is 150 feet high and five square feet wide. Around the minaret there are tent-like slabs of red stone.

The foundation stone of this Summit Minar was laid by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on February 22, 1975 and it was inaugurated on February 22, 1977.

Vedita Daluke also worked on two other projects in Pakistan, including the Mosque of the President’s House Islamabad and the Secretariat of the Prime Minister’s House.

Vedat Daloke was also interested in politics. In 1973, he participated in the election of the mayor of Ankara on behalf of the Republican People’s Party and managed to win this election with 62 percent of the votes.

He held this post from December 10, 1973 to December 12, 1977.

Vedat Daluke said that Ankara is the most representative city of Turkey, which should be the showcase of Turkey, so during his time, most of the problems including traffic jams in this city were solved.

After resigning from the post of Mayor, Vaidya Dalke resumed practice as an architect.

On March 21, 1991, he was traveling in a car with his family when he met with an accident.

He, his wife Ayesha Daluke and son Baras Daluke also died in the accident.

Vedat Daluke had great devotion to Pakistan and the founder of Pakistan, so during his mayorship, he named an important road in Ankara after the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Embassies of Germany, Afghanistan, Sweden, India, Hungary and former Yugoslavia are located on this main road.

On the occasion of Independence Day on August 14, 1987, the Government of Pakistan also announced to award him the Star of Pakistan, which was presented to him in a prestigious ceremony on March 23, 1988.

(Editing: Zafar Syed)