The Oonchi Mosque, or Uchi Mosque (, )
It has been extensively renovated throughout its history, resulting in little of the mosque's original decorative elements being preserved.
Background
The mosque's name means "High Mosque," and refers to the fact that the mosque was built upon a high platform.
Unlike the grand Mughal mosques such as Wazir Khan Mosque and
Badshahi Mosque, no inscription exists which signifies the year of the mosque's construction.
History
The mosque is often said to date from the reign of Akbar, however, evidence also suggest that the mosque may have been built later, during the reign of
Aurangzeb.
It is said that the spiritual master of the great Punjabi poet and Sufi saint, Baba Bulleh Shah, Shah Inayat Qadiri, was Imam of the mosque.
The mosque has been ascribed to a mashki - a water carrier. A tughra was once located on the mosque's outer gate which read:
Architecture
The mosque features three archways and a small ablution pool for the performance of the Islamic ritual washing called
Wudu before prayers.
Two niches along the mosque's western wall bear Quranic verses, while a third bears the name of Abul Fateh Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar Badshah Ghazi, simply known as the emperor Akbar.
See also
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Mosques of Lahore
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Mughal architecture
