More Oriental Rug Notes by Barry
O'Connell |
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Modern and traditional design. Armenian too! www.TufenkianCarpets.com |
Discontinued and one of kind rugs. www.TufenkianOutlet.com |
Custom area rugs by Tufenkian |
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 |
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. |
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The Carpet of Wonder
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Photo www.wnsstamps.ch
Photo www.soukofoman.com |
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 |
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