Main image: M.irfan44, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Getting There
It is located at M.A Jinnah Rd, Central Jacob Lines Ghm، Karachi, Karachi City, Sindh. We can easily go there by car.
Timings for Vistors:
| Tuesday | 2–5:30pm |
| Wednesday | 10am–5:30pm |
| Thursday | 10am–5:30pm |
| Friday | 2–5:30pm |
| Saturday | 2–5:30pm |
| Sunday | 2–5:30pm |
| Monday | 2–5:30pm |
What to Expect
The mausoleum is surrounded by a large garden laid out in a neo-Mughal style in the dense central city, with large traffic rotaries at three of its four corners. It is clad in white marble, and has curved arches and copper grills set on an elevated 54-square-meter platform.
The cool inner sanctum reflects the green of a four-tiered crystal chandelier given by the People’s Republic of China. In the interior of the grave complex, there are four graves in a row and one to the north. The one to the north, which is decorated with a series of black floral design at the base, belongs to Miss [Fatima Jinnah], Quaid-e-Azam’s sister.
Out of the four graves in a row, first extreme two belong to Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan and Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan lying side by side. The other extreme grave belongs to Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar. In the middle lies buried Nurul Amin, who was the eighth Prime Minister of Pakistan.
All these graves are made of Italian white marble, and they are of the box type, like the sarcophagus of Jinnah, placed on a triple base. But the sides of these graves are tapering inward while that of Jinnah are diverging outward. These are all plain graves, except that of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, which has a basal floral ornamentation.
History
Mazar-e-Quaid, also known as Jinnah Mausoleum or the National Mausoleum, is the final resting place of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s death occurred in 1948, and in 1960 President Ayub Khan laid the foundation stone for the mausoleum. It was inaugurated by Yahya Khan on 1971. The gardens surrounding the mausoleum were not completed until 2000.
The design of the Mazar-e-Quaid was influenced by the Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
Facilities Available
The mausoleum is placed in a 53 hectare park and the size of building is 75×75 m on ground and 43 m high, built on an 4 m high platform. In each wall is placed an entrance. The gardens on all the sides of the mausoleum are lush green which can be an exciting place to enjoy all day in winters and only night time in summers as Karachi is a relatively hooter area dominated by summer for most time of the year.
The garden area has numerous benches on the side where you can sit and enjoy the spectacular green landscape and the amazing white marble architecture of the tomb. Moreover, the 15 number of fountains in the vicinity cools down the hot temperature which is a treat to experience particularly in hot summer evenings.
