Teen Talwar aur Teen Khanjar

Posted on June 9, 2009
Filed Under >Owais Mughal, Photo of the Day
18 Comments
Total Views: 32077

Owais Mughal

A mini replica of Karachi’s famous ‘teen (3) talwar‘ monument has emerged in Mirpur Khas. In the photo below Karachi’s three-sword landmark is to the left and Mirpur Khas replica to the right.

What do our readers have to say about architectural copies of landmarks or architectural plagiarization?


I understand Mirpur Khas is a much smaller city than Karachi and has much limited resources. But inspite of lack of funds to build a landmark of grand scale, some ingenuity of design must be practised.

This particular landmark design is just an example. Through this post, I want to raise a general question on whether copying a landmark is OK or does it leave a bad taste showing prevalent mediocrity in the society.

To me personally it leaves a bad taste. This is mediocrity and lack of ingenuity.

Following two photos are another example of copycat architecture in Pakistan. First photo is Shaikh Zyed Center in Punjab University Campus, Lahore and the photo below it is Shaikh Zayed Center at Karachi University. Both buildings are identical. I must admit that to me these buildings are beautiful and symmetric. They are far from being ugly but I do have this wish that if somebody was spending millions of rupees on construction of these huge buildings, they could’ve made their design unique too.

Shaikh Zayed Center, Punjab University, Lahore

Shaikh Zayed Center, Karachi University, Karachi

Before ending, I realize the grammatically correct title of the post should’ve been “teen talwareN aur teen khanjar” Or may be a more poetic one such as ‘talwar teri aankhen, khanjar teri nigaaheN’ but I’ve kept the title as it is to go with the common name of the monument which is ‘teen talwar’.

Photo Credits: Raja Islam and Jehangir Khan

18 responses to “Teen Talwar aur Teen Khanjar

  1. M I Advany says:

    I am proud of Karachi and Mirpur Khas. Karachi should be happy to see that Mirpur Khas is honoring Karachi. For the same reason Punjab University should be glad to see their sister university in Karachi is honoring them. I am proud of both the universities too.

  2. Zahid Latif says:

    Technically or ethically no problem, but this trend points towards lack of innovation and creativity, all the landmarks MUST BE UNIQUE CREATIVELY INNOVATIVE…because Pakistan is land of FRESH IDEAS
    PLEASE AVOID REPLICAS

  3. Mohammad Qureshi says:

    I think as long as it is a Pakistani landmark brought to other parts of Pakistan, there is nothing wrong with it. If one Pakistani city wants to copy a good idea of another Pakistani city, it should be allowed. Its not like they are building a replica of the Statue of Liberty or anything, this is distinctly our own. And besides, the message on the teen talwar is a good one to pass on to other parts of the country.

    Perhaps Pakistan will even be known for the “teen talwar” as one of its national symbols!

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