Blue Mosque replica: ‘Monument’ dedicated to Istanbul mayor

Punjab government decided to name the monument after Topbas because of Istanbul’s help in the BRTP and LWMC project.

LAHORE:

The Punjab government has built a 40-feet high replica of the dome of Istanbul’s Blue Mosque near Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in honour of Kadir Topbas, the mayor of the Turkish city, who is due to visit Lahore soon.

The monument on Raiwind Link Road in Valencia Town stands on a cylindrical stem starting with a three-inch diameter and reducing to two inches to offer the least obstruction to the line of sight of drivers. The windows are fibreglass with inward slanting sills, sides and apex, replicating the windows of the Blue Mosque. The 20-inch dome is crowned with a golden mount with a Turkish crescent at the top and is lit up by four floodlights on the ground. The Punjab government decided to name the monument after Topbas because of Istanbul’s help in the Bus Rapid Transit project and Lahore Waste Management Company project. Topbas is to arrive in Lahore on March 11 or 12 to inaugurate the projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2012.