Amburiq Mosque, Shigar, Baltistan – Restored by Aga Khan Trust for Culture | The Express Tribune

Excerpt: Built by Amir Kabir Syed Ali Hamdani, the legendary saint who helped spread Islam in the region, the mosque was the first of its kind to be installed in Shigar. On his way from Yarkand in the 14th century (between 1372 -1383), Syed Ali Hamdani passed through the famous Braldu La pass into Shigar with his missionaries. In his effort to strengthen Islam in the region, he commissioned his craftsmen to build the mosque. The structure was erected with the help of locals who used techniques which were a combination of Kashmiri, Tibetan and Persian architectural patterns, symbols and motifs.

The mosque therefore shows traces of the then prominent Buddhist culture of Baltistan leaving its imprint on the budding Islamic way of life. It is a blend of cultures with its typical Kashmiri pitched roof and a Tibetan tower on top. The structure resembles a wooden shell based on cribbage columns and beams, replete with floral and bird woodcarvings on the outside. Inside is a prayer hall with a verandah to the east that serves as a lobby. After years of neglect that took a visible toll on the structure, especially after the earthquake it witnessed 90 years ago causing it to tilt westwards, the mosque was finally restored in 1998. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Asian-Pacific Heritage award-winning project was undertaken by the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP) along with the local community who provided labour and knowledge of mud building techniques to restore the mosque to its original form. The yearlong project strictly followed international standards of conservation and raised awareness among locals on how to handle the mosque’s periodic maintenance work independently.

via Amburiq mosque: Restored spirituality – The Express Tribune.