Cypress Tomb
| Cypress Tomb | |
|---|---|
| File:Lower and Upper building of the tomb (Front view).JPG | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Indo-Islamic architecture, Mughal architecture |
| Location | Begampura, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Coordinates | 74.364045 E 31.580853 N |
| Completed | 1745 AD |
| Height | approx 12 meters/ 39 foot |
Cypress Tomb also known as Saruwala Maqbara is a tomb located in Lahore, Pakistan.
The tomb is located near to the north of Dai Anga tomb and east of the Grand Trunk Road near the Gualbi Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan; however, as new buildings have been constructed around the area, it has become difficult to access the tomb. It was initially surrounded by gardens, but because of the houses built on them, a "small garden" exists today in which the local boys play cricket.[1]
This structure houses the tomb of Sharaf-al Nisa sister of Nawab Zakariya Khan, the governor of Lahore province during the reign of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah Rangeela.,[2] built in the eighteenth century.[2] The exterior walls of the tomb are covered with Varanasi tiles, whose colours are much fainter than other buildings where similar tiles have been used.[2] The lower part of the walls contains white and blue tiles imported from western Europe.[2]
Historian Catherine Blanshard Asher, describes the tomb as "Lahore's best preserved monument from the post-Aurangzeb period". It is a "unique structure" as it is like a tapering tower with a "pyramidal vault".[3] The tomb was used by Sharaf-Al-Nisa as a meditation chamber during her lifetime and it is named Cypress tomb because of the cypress trees and other floral motifs used on the tiles on the exterior walls.[3] The use of glazed tiles is not unique in Lahore architecture, but the "stiff, rigid quality" of the design of these separates it from other buildings in the city.[3]
References
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