Mazar-e-Quaid

About: Mazar e Quaid

Mazar-e-Quaid, also known as National Mausoleum or Jinnah Mausoleum, is the tomb of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. It was completed in 1971 and was designed in modern style, and is one of Karachi’s top tourist places. It also contains Jinnah’s sister’s tomb, Fatima Jinnah, first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, and eighth prime minister Nurul Amin. The final resting place of Sardar Abdur Rab Nishter from the Muslim League also lies here. The national mausoleum is situated in Jamshed Quarters on Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road, a prominent and visible place in Karachi. Surrounded by a large garden of neo-Mughal style, the mausoleum has heavy traffic on three corners.

History

Muhammad Ali Jinnah died in 1948, and a large white marble slab marked his final resting place. Quaid-e-Azam Memorial Fund (QMF) was made in 1949, and it received various suggestions for the creation of a memorial in honour of Quaid e Azam. By 1952, his tomb had a small dome.QMF and Fatima Jinnah received further requests from Pakistanis at the sad state of his grave, and they asked for its improvement. QMF hired an architect from India to design the mausoleum. In 1955, he employed a Turkish architect, but his plan was not accepted. In 1957, the government organized an international competition to design a new mausoleum. British architect William Whitfield then won the battle. Fatima Jinnah was also selecting the architect who would design Jinnah’s mausoleum. She then rejected the 1957 proposal and selected an architect named Yahya Merchant, Jinnah’s friend, to develop the monument. The 1957 proposal set Yahya Merchant, Jinnah’s friend, to create the memorial. The footstone was put on July 31, 1960, by President Ayub Khan and was inaugurated by Yahya Khan on January 18, 1971.

Proposed design

Pakistani residents put together various recommendations for the mausoleum. In 1954, the designs of an Indian designer was not accepted by the individuals from the QMF and were cancelled. In 1955, QMF recruited an architect from Turkey because of being “excessively elaborate.” The Government of Pakistan arranged a worldwide competition to design Jinnah’s mausoleum in 1957. This competition was won by William Whitfield from Raglan Squire and Partners firm. The plan was to build a neo-futurist tomb mounted on a raised stage in a neo-Mughal garden. Fatima Jinnah restricted Whitfield’s arrangement on a few fronts, including its plan, its choice by a worldwide instead of Pakistani jury, and how it was granted to a British national. Fatima Jinnah then picked the proposition of engineer Yahya Merchant, an architect from Bombay, a close companion of Jinnah. The merchant’s design contained a cuboid structure with a vault of white marble. A raised stage was put on the landmark, set in a 61-acre garden. Prominent teacher Ahmad Hasan Dani liked the new plan.