
The Badshahi Mosque (
Punjabi,
Urdu: بادشاھی مسجد), or the 'Emperor's Mosque', in
Lahore is the second largest mosque in
Pakistan and
South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world. It is Lahore's most famous landmark and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty, passion and grandeur of the
Mughal era.
Capable of accommodating 10,000 worshippers in its main prayer hall and 100,000 in its courtyard and porticoes, it remained the
largest mosque in the world from 1673 to 1986 (a period of 313 years), when overtaken in size by the completion of the
Faisal Mosque in
Islamabad. Today, it remains the second largest
mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world after the
Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of
Mecca, the
Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in
Medina, the
Hassan II Mosque in
Casablanca and the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.
To appreciate its large size, the four
minarets of the Badshahi Mosque are 13.9 ft (4.2 m) taller than those of the
Taj Mahal and the main platform of the Taj Mahal can fit inside the 278,784 sq ft (25,899.9 m2) courtyard of the Badshahi Mosque, which is the largest mosque courtyard in the world.