The Carpet of Wonder - the Mosque
See also The
Carpet of Wonder - Introduction, The
Carpet of Wonder - The Processes of Weaving, and The Carpet of Wonder - the Art
Photo www.soukofoman.com
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On the 5th of May in the year 2001 after four
years, 600 workers, 12 million man hours of work
on the carpet alone His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos
bin Said bowed to pray in the largest Mosque in
the world on the largest hand woven rug in the
world. |
The Carpet of Wonder
Photo www.wnsstamps.ch
Photo www.soukofoman.com
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In 1992 (1412AH) His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos
bin Said ordered that the work to build a Mosque
in the wilayat of Bausher, Muscat governorate in
the Sultanate of Oman. When the sultan came to
the throne in 1970 he built a more modest mosque
in Muscat but in 1992 he called for plans to be
drawn up for the largest Mosque in the world.
This Mosque was to draw from the best of the
broad range of Islamic art and architecture and
not from a single country or tradition of Islam. Sultan
Qaboos bin Said is a remarkable man. If someone
set out to describe the perfect monarch he might
well describe Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Like a
modern day Shah Abbas
he has taken a country in trouble and made it a
nation. Also like Shah Abbas he is a man of the
people taking up to two months each year to tour
the country and talk to the common man. By
careful governing he has improved the lot of his
people. Literacy and jobs have increased while
the child mortality rate has dropped. Typical of
his governing style the Sultan Qaboos Grand
Mosque as well as over 2000 other mosques have
been built entirely from the Sultan's own purse.
Born: November 18, 1940
Came to power: July 23, 1970
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See also The
Carpet of Wonder - Introduction, The
Carpet of Wonder - The Processes of Weaving, and The Carpet of Wonder - the Art - Qaboos_of_Oman
Thanks to the Iran Carpet
Co. the producers of the
Carpet of Wonder. They have been kind enough to supply me
with information and the images that made this article
possible. Special thanks to Mr. Yazdi and Mr. Karimi who
was the Managing Director when this was written. Thanks
also to www.soukofoman.com
a wonderful resource on Oman for pictures and background
information. Thanks also to the Embassy
of Oman in Japan and www.wnsstamps.ch
More
Oriental Rug Notes by Barry O'Connell
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