Vakil Mosque : a lasting legacy from Karim Khan Zand

No doubt the culture and life of Muslims in eastern countries are mixed, ingrained by Mosques and other religious places. Each Muslim should pray at least 5 times during a day from twilight to the night and for the merchants and shopkeepers finding a place to pray during working times is hard and time consuming. On the other hand praying in mass is a blessing and mostly recommended in Islam religion and most of the Muslims prefer to pray in community instead solitary. A Jami mosque would be the only and one solution.

History of Vakil mosque in Shiraz

All the mosques from the very first one established by prophet Mohammad peace upon him to the latest ones you can see today even in western countries have a code inside them which just by knowing this code you can decipher the secrets of them after many years and the essence of this code is fate and functionality. Most of the mosques near and around Bazzars are made and established just to simplify to making prayers of rest for the merchants and shopkeepers which are working and living near magnificent jami mosques. The first Mosques were very simple and they were made from the very original and available materials like the stone and mud or even just mud bricks. They had normally just one Minna rate and they were small and there were not so many facilities inside for the people who made their prayers inside or outside the mosque. The First mosque in Medina did not even have a roof to protect people against sun or rain or other natural forces like wind and storms. But the more we are closing to real time and contemporary history, the more sophisticated and functionality of the mosque emerges and just by looking the Jami mosques in the 16 century to 20 century you understand how changed and more sophisticated these huge structures and how delicate they are made and ornamented by tiles to painting and details. Isfahani citizens are very proud of their Jami mosques but Shiraz people have many things to say about Vakil mosque in Shiraz too.

Historical and cultural importance of Vakil Mosque

Historical and cultural Importance of vakil mosque in Zand complex in mind blowing and makes the Author writing about it speechless.
Vakil mosque in Shiraz is like a gem shining in the Vakil complex and visiting it is like just an absolute blessing of god and everybody who visits this mosque understands how experienced the Architects of the time were and how genius were the engineers who made this huge structure.
When you enter this mosque, neighboring Bazar and public bath you will find the balance between beauty and functionality.

The unique architecture of Vakil Mosque

Vakil mosque Iran is like other four Ivan mosques and like others you can find summer and winter praying halls.`
The unique structure of vakil mosque made it a model to make many new mosques after finishing and even today many teachers and students use its design and plan to explain and motivate young architects inspired from this masterpiece to create new modern designs which have the old beauties and experience inside.
When you get inside the mosque you will find a vast yard covered by big blocks of stone which are unique in form, size and style. In front  of you, there is a vast praying hall which is made above numerous pillars which are unique in size and form and viewing them from different angles give you different geometrical forms completing each other in different time of the day and fulfill  your desires to beauty and because of this you can find many amateur and professional photographers stay in this hall from morning to night just to take pictures and use them in social media and promote the artists and architects to copy and distribute their art and show the other people the supreme beauty and functionality of vakil mosque Iran. Because of the uniqueness of vakil mosque in Shiraz, you can find many local, national and international tourists who start their day by visiting Vakil Mosque and stay there for hours from morning to the evening.
Even if Vakil mosque shiraz is a very common target for all tourists from national to international ones, it does not mean that this factor influenced the functionality of this religious place during the time. Each day after hearing call for prayer which are spreading from the mosque vial loudspeaker, hundreds of merchants rush to the mosque, go straight to the washroom and make their ablutions complete and depending of the season they fill the praying halls and make rows and make a big community of praying Muslims and after completing their praying times they rush and return to their normal job.
Because the merchants and businessmen are living very close to the mosque as they are working in the bazaar, the mosque fills very fast and the prayers leave the mosque very quickly to work for the rest of the day. Because of this the most crowded time in this mosque like the others is the noon time which by rushing the merchants all the space of the praying hall is filled by praying people and it shows how united the community of Muslims in case of religion and fate. Even if this huge Jami mosque is crowded all the time, the whole structure is really cozy and tranquil and there is an intangible silence which dominates the whole structure, especially the winter praying hall. Because this mosque was made during the Zand dynasty and it is very close to contemporary history and time, its forms and different parts of Vakil mosque are different compared to old fashion jami mosques throughout the country.
Because of coincidence to making this mosque and presence of foreign architects like dutch, Portuguese, British, Russian and… architects in zand dynasty you can find many other different forms and motives which are imported to the country after foreign invasion to Iran and in vakil mosque you can see the summit of this procedure during history of Iran.For example the minarets of Vakil mosque are different from the other minarets. They are shorter than standard minarets and they are made mostly from wood and contrary to other normal minarets the design and forms are totally different.

Different parts of Vakil mosque

Different parts of vakil mosque have their own meaning and the pillars are unique in form and design and just by looking at them you will mesmerize by size, form and design. This combination makes the atmosphere of this part of the mosque tranquil, silent and cozy and gives a spiritual silence to the space which you cannot find in any parts of the country. The pillars in this mosque have a fluted and twisted design which is unique and just in Zand period you can find this kind of fluted but twisted design. In some parts of the mosque they used wooden pillars which are unique and at the same of stone design and unfortunately because of the very basic vulnerability of wood against insects and fungus and pests and parasites those wooden pillars are rotten and today there is just little remaining of them. But just by knowing this you understand how sophisticated and talented were the craftsmen and designers of the mosque nearly 300 years ago. In the center of the yard there is a big shallow pool which is used as a resource of water to provide fresh water for washing and ablution of the prayers. The shallowness of the pull results in changing the water frequently and adding more hygienic factors for the ablutionary and from the other side the sewage and remaining water in the pool used for irrigation or other ordinary matters like washing the floors or other usage. Most of the walls and spaces inside the mosque are covered by colorful tiles and tablets and as mentioned above because of influencing the western art and importing new designs you can find many western styles or even new colors to tiles of vakil mosque in Shiraz. For example you can find flower and nightingale motifs in some tiles which is not very common in tiles of other mosques and this anomaly made the unique architecture of vakil mosque in Shiraz.
From the other side even the colors which are used in tiles are different and instead of using very deep blue or navy blue or turquoise colors which are favorite whole the country between people and Architects and craftsmen, in this mosque other colors like pink and purple and violet is used more than normal and as I mentioned before using these abnormal colors and this anomaly shows the influence and superiority of western art to Shiraz at Zand dynasty time and this abnormally make the beauty and difference of different parts of vakil mosque in beautiful and historical and cultural city of shiraz in Fars province of Iran.
In main praying hall you can see the seat the niche and praying place of Imam which is like a grave and in small shallow pool form and this a rule in Islam because this is symbolic which imam is ready to sacrifice himself to his religion and from the other side in some events thousands of people rush to the mosque to add themselves to the community and because the mosque is full of prayers and there is no more space for the new people , the newcomers make new rows outside the mosque inside the open spaces like streets and empty spaces and according a religious rule the location of Imam should not be higher than the other people in respect of them. So they made the niche as low as they could to make this difference absolute and give the religious people more confidence to follow the very basic rules of Islam to obey.
There is a solid stone made pulpit in the main hall which is unique and carved from a solid block of marble rock. The Imam sat on that pulpit during his lecture but for praying he must use that shallow grave form to follow the Islamic rule and this is a very strict rule in Islam which should be followed by the Imam of the mosque.

Tips for Visiting the Vakil mosque

There are many different tips for visiting the vakil mosque which should be covered in strict scrutiny and it can be a little odd for the foreigner international tourists. One of them  is when you are visiting vakil mosque Iran you should know that this is a functional and active mosque and many people join the prayers in visiting time and because of this all women should have Hijab, the religious wearing and closing for women in Islam and if they do not have the religious controllers and guards lend the perfect cloth to the visitors during visiting the mosque.
One of the other tips visiting the vakil mosque is, taking photos have some restrictions and there is better you double check taking pictures by the controllers before and never take picture from women inside the mosque because in many case they do not look to take picture from them even they have a very high standard in wearing hijab and cloth names as “chador”. Never forget timing is very important in vakil mosque and it is better to have a professional guide to manage time and specially consider traffic in Shiraz.
Most of the streets in Shiraz are narrow and old and traffic jams are very common in this city especially during holidays. We recommend you to have a professional guide to help you to manage your precious time during your visit in Shiraz. Our people in Sanapersian site are ready to answer all your questions and support you to have a memorable time during your visit to Iran, Shiraz and vakil mosque. Please do not hesitate to ask us any questions about visiting Shiraz and its attractions. Until the day we visit you in the zand complex in Shiraz, Iran.