The architecture of ritual : eighteenth-century Lucknow and the making of the Great Imambarah complex, a forgotten world monument
Date
2017-04-21
Authors
Keshani, Hussein
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Abstract
In the late eighteenth century, a large urban redevelopment program was initiated by the
Shii Isna ‘Ashari Muslim ruler Asaf al-Dawlah in Lucknow, a city located in the
prosperous, semi-autonomous north Indian region of Awadh. The development included
four monumental entrances, a congregational mosque and a monumental imambarah, a
ritual centre used for the annual mourning of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn
by the city’s small, elite Shii Isna community. Incorporating one of the largest
masonry vaults ever built in human history, the imambarah has a monumental scale that
contributes to its uniqueness. Although Shii Isna ‘Ashari communities elsewhere
developed smaller imambarah facilities, none ever thought to build one using
monumental proportions typically reserved for congregational mosques. Asaf al-Dawlah’s Great Imambarah is unusual in the history of world architecture and in Shii Isna ‘Ashari, Islamic religious practice, but the building and complex have never been the focus of study.
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Keywords
Islamic architecture, Lucknow (India)