Cast In Stone
Khalid Bashir Gura
Pather Masjid in the heart of Srinagar is the only living monument f Mughal architecture in Kashmir. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
Pathar Masjid (The Stone Mosque) is one of Srinagar’s key infrastructures of faith and culture. Built by Nur Jahan, the queen wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir, in 1623 AD, the mosque is also known as
Naev Masjid (New Mosque) and Shahi-i- Masjid (Royal Mosque) as well This is perhaps the only mosque other than Jamia Masjid that is mentioned in history, repeatedly.
The mosque may escape ones attention as it is fenced and shaded from public view by a shop line, security checkpoints and spools of barbed wire. As one step into the lawns of the mosque, through a labyrinth of alleys, the towering silence engulfs, and the crimson leaves from the Chinars fall silently on its four rectangular gardens,