page_title: Chauburji
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Chauburji / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Chauburji This is a photo of a monument in Pakistan identified as the PB-46
context_page_description: Chauburji is Mughal era monument in the city of Lahore, capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab. The Shah Jahan period monument previously acted as a gateway to a large garden, and was built in 1646 C.E.
context_section_description: Chauburji is built in a syncretic style that blends Mughal architecture, the older Timurid-style from Central Asia, and Perso-Arabic styles from the Middle East. Its distinguishing features are the minarets which greatly widen at the top - a unique feature not present anywhere in the sub-continent. Some, however, believe that there were cupolas upon these minarets which collapsed with the passage of time.
  The eastern and western facades of the structure are decorated by two-storey Timurid-style iwans flanked by two levels of alcoves in a style typical of the Shah Jehan period of Mughal architecture. The building was once covered in intricate blue and green kashi kari (or Kashan-style) tile work and frescoes. The iwans are embellished with muqarnas, which were first introduced into the Mughal Empire from Persia with construction of Lahore's Wazir Khan Mosque.
  The building's red brickwork is typical of the Muslim buildings of the sub-continent; the doorways and windows running through the interior corridors are examples of the living style that characterised Mughal structures. Although most of the inscriptions on Chauburjia have been lost, on the upper-most part of the construction Ayat-ul-Kursi can be seen in Arabic script in blue and worked in porcelain.
  It has been suggested that the Charminar of Hyderabad, India influenced the architecture of Chauburji.
caption: A view of Chauburjis iwans
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