The Pakistan Monument () is a national monument and heritage museum 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, the Baloch, the Sindhi and the Pakhtun. The three smaller petals represent: the minorities, Azad Kashmir 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. The Ministry of Culture 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 General Pervez Musharraf.

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 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 Punjabi, the Baloch, the Sindhi and the Pakhtun. The three smaller petals represent: the minorities, Azad Kashmir 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 and Allama Iqbal. 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, Badshahi Mosque, Khyber Pass, and Minar-e-Pakistan. 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 depicting important events leading to the Pakistan Movement. 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