Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam
Interesting facts
- The saint's title, Rukn-e-Alam, means 'Pillar of the World'; he was born in Multan in 1251 and died there in 1335.
- His mother is recorded as a princess of Fergana, and his grandfather, the Sufi master Bahauddin Zakariya, chose his given name Rukn-ud-Din.
- Following his own wishes he was first buried in his grandfather's shrine, and only later was his coffin carried to the present tomb.
- Unlike earlier Multan shrines, which rise from square bases, this tomb is built on an octagon from the ground up.
- The walls of the lower octagon are about four feet thick.
- The white dome is crowned by a finial resembling the amalaka, the ribbed stone disc that tops many Hindu temple towers.
- The original main entrance faced south; it was later moved to the east so that the building's axes would line up with Mecca.
- The interior was first covered in tilework that was later plastered over, so the hall long stood almost bare before its 1970s restoration.
- The tomb is regarded as the culmination of a Multani tradition of brick funerary architecture that began with the Shrine of Khalid Walid near Kabirwala.
- A district of Multan and a former express train between Multan and Karachi were both named after the saint.
Why it is worth it
Rising from the old fort mound of Multan, the tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is a huge octagon of polished red brick crowned by a white dome, visible from far across the city. Built between 1320 and 1324, it is regarded as the earliest example of Tughluq architecture, older than the Tughluq monuments of Delhi, and as one of the most impressive mausoleums of the Indian subcontinent. It is also a living shrine: the annual urs commemorating the saint draws more than 100,000 pilgrims.
The building was raised by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq while he was still governor of Dipalpur, probably as his own tomb, before he became sultan of Delhi. His son, Muhammad bin Tughluq, later gave it to the descendants of Rukn-e-Alam, a 14th-century Sufi saint of the Suhrawardi order, whose remains were moved here in 1330 from the shrine of his grandfather Bahauddin Zakariya nearby. The structure rises in three tiers to a height of about 35 metres. The lower octagon, 15 metres across with sloping walls, is braced at every corner by tapering, minaret-like buttresses; a second octagon carries small domes at its corners; and above it sits the great dome, also some 15 metres in diameter. Bands of shisham timber, darkened with age, run through the brickwork, and battlements and turrets borrow the language of Tughluq military architecture. The surfaces are worked with carved brick, carved wood and glazed tiles in dark blue, azure and white, set in floral, arabesque and geometric patterns against the red brick.
Inside, the vast octagonal hall has no internal supports at all. The saint's cenotaph stands slightly off-centre, surrounded by the graves of 72 relatives and followers — a number that recalls the 72 companions of Imam Hussein who fell at Karbala. The carved wooden mihrab is counted among the earliest of its kind. The glittering tilework seen today largely dates from a thorough restoration in the 1970s by the tile-makers of Multan, whose craft continues the old local tradition. The shrine is on Pakistan's tentative list for World Heritage. Multan itself, on the east bank of the Chenab, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Asia: besieged by Alexander the Great, a medieval trading hub linked to Iran and Central Asia, and a magnet for Sufi mystics from the 11th century onwards.
Getting there
The tomb stands at the north-western edge of Multan Fort in central Multan. Multan International Airport (MUX) is about 5 km away.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam is the mausoleum of the 14th century Sufi saint Shah Rukn-e-Alam located in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, at the northwestern edge of the Multan Fort. The shrine is considered to be the earliest example of Tughluq architecture, and is one of the most impressive shrines in the Indian subcontinent. The shrine attracts over 100,000 pilgrims to the annual urs festival that commemorates his death.
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