The Pakistan Monument () is a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

and

heritage museum A heritage centre, center, or museum, is a public facility – typically a museum, monument, visitor centre, or park – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of historical and cultural information about a place and its people, and oft ...

located on the western Shakarparian Hills in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The monument was constructed to symbolize the unity of the Pakistani people. It is dedicated to the people of Pakistan who sacrificed their "today" for a better "tomorrow". The four large petals represent each of the four main cultures of Pakistan, the

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

, the Baloch, the Sindhi and the

Pakhtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

. The three smaller petals represent: the minorities,

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

and

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative units of Pakistan, administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has b ...

. Its elevation makes the monument visible from across the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is a popular tourist destination.

Conception

The plan for a National Monument in Islamabad was first envisioned in 2002 by the government of Pakistan then assisted by Uxi Mufti, son of

Mumtaz Mufti Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti (; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.

. The

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

was tasked to organize through the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners; a national monument design competition based on the theme of signifying strength, unity and dedication of the people of Pakistan into an icon representing an independent and free nation. From a total of 21 submissions, 3 were short-listed. The final design proposed by Arif Masoud was selected and approved on 10 July 2003. The foundation stone was laid on 25 May 2004, completed in 2006 and inaugurated on 23 March 2007 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

General

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

Design concept

Covering a total area of , the design of the monument is rooted in the rich

Mughal architecture Mughal architecture is the style of architecture developed in the Mughal Empire in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in the Indian subcontinent. It developed from the architectural styles of ea ...

of the

Subcontinent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as in the case of A ...

. Its petal-shaped structure is derived from the traditional

muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...

of Mughal architecture. As the architect says: "We should learn from history but not remain in it." He used today's technology to modernize the historical form of the muqarnas. The resultant petal-shaped structure emphasizes the importance of unity and togetherness among the people of Pakistan. Rather than symbolizing the four provinces (as is mistakenly observed), it represents the four different cultures of the people of Pakistan. The four large petals represent each of the four cultures, the

, the Baloch, the Sindhi and the

. The three smaller petals represent: the minorities,

and Gilgit-Baltistan. All seven petals, though independent of each other, stand together in unison to form the nation of Pakistan. Standing together, they are protecting the star and the crescent of the

flag of Pakistan The national flag of Pakistan, also known as the Flag of the Star and Crescent (), is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white descending Star and crescent, crescent moon and five-pointed star at its centre, and a vertical white st ...

. The star of the flag in the monument is designed in shiny black

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

with golden stars, which represent the people who sacrificed their lives for Pakistan. The moon crescent is made from stainless steel with inspirational writings of Quaid-e-Azam

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

and

Allama Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

. The petals are built of granite (projecting in a suspended cantilever form, among the largest in Asia) and its inner walls are covered with artwork depicting various landmarks of Pakistan, notable people of Pakistan's independence movement and musical and dance themes. The landmarks portrayed include

Lahore Fort The Lahore Fort (; ; ) is a citadel in the walled interior of Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. The fortress is located at the northern end of the Walled City and spreads over an area greater than . It contains 21 notable monuments, some of which ...

Badshahi Mosque The Badshahi Mosque (; ) is a Mughal Empire, Mughal-era congregational mosque, imperial mosque located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was constructed between 1671 and 1673 during the rule of Aurangzeb, opposite of the Lahore Fort on the north ...

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...

, and

Minar-e-Pakistan Minar-e-Pakistan (; ) is a public monument tower located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The tower was built during 1960–1968 on the site where on 23 March 1940, the All-India Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution which was later called the ...

. Other than the People's Monument, there is a museum that narrates the history and story of the creation of Pakistan. These two structures are connected by a large piazza, known as the Freedom Plaza. Though the name of the architect – Arif Masoud – is inscribed in stone on the main dedication plaque located outside the main plaza, he has honoured all construction workers by placing their hand impressions all along the long walls flanking this Freedom Plaza on both sides. At the farthest end is a viewing platform which gives a

bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective (graphical), perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downward. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photog ...

. From the air, the monument looks like a star (centre) and a crescent moon (formed by walls forming the petals), these represent the star and crescent on Pakistan's flag.

Museum

Adjoining the monument is the Pakistan Monument Museum, which includes a

wax museum A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes. Some wax museums have a special section dubbe ...

depicting important events leading to the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

. Furthermore, the facilities includes a reference library, audio-visual archive, conference hall along with a 62-seat capacity auditorium known as Panorama Hall. The complex received on average around 1,500 tourists per day totaling at 0.57 million visitors in 2015, while there were 514,944 visits in 2018.

Gallery

File:Three petals of Pakistan Monument.jpg, Moon as seen from the Monument File:Carving of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Fatima Jinnah (Pakistan Monument petals).jpg, One of the leaves displaying Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah and his

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

. File:Pakistan Monument, Islamabad MDSR-01.jpg, Central platform File:Pakistan Monument.jpg, Gardens at the Pakistan Monument File:Pakistan Monument Museum.jpg, Pakistan Monument Museum File:Pak Monument site4.jpg, Monument Arches File:Monument Arches.jpg, Monument Arches File:Monument-sunset.jpg, Sunset at Monument File:Pakistan Monument Islamabadd.jpg, Pakistan Monument Islamabad

References

External links