Monar-e-Sareban - Decorative
Treatment
The decorative treatment of this minaret can be divided into seven sections. The first at the base is
plain brick, and this is followed by two bands of fine decorative brickwork. The first of these, visible
at the base of the picture, is made up of a series of somewhat poorly executed, large, rectangular Kufic
Inscriptions in Banai style, picked out in the brickwork. A horizontal band of Banai Kufic
containaing the names of Muhammad, and the first four Caliphs of Islam (Abu Bekr, Omar,
Osman and Ali), separates this from the third part which is made up of fine
geometrical patterns. The geometrical patterns are surmounted by the fourth section consisting of the
first 'crown' of the minaret. This is composed of lapis-lazuli tilework and elegant brick
muqqarnas supporting a small platform.
Above this, the fifth section consists of further decorative brickwork and this gives way to the sixth
section, the second 'crown' of the minaret which is decorated in similar style to the first. The seventh
and final section consists of the top of the minaret and is unornamented.
The following sections can be viewed in more detail
Banai Inscriptions at the base
(second section)
Geometrical patterns (third
section)
The first 'crown' (fourth section)
The upper 'crown' (sixth section)
North
to the Monar-e-Chehel Dokhtaran - Minaret of 40 virgins
East
to the Dar Al-Ziyafeh.
West to
the Tomb of Baba Qassem.
Take a taxi
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28-April-95
