This truly magnificent and gorgeous Grand Mosque of Shah Jahan with its complex of blue and white buildings capped by 93 domes is indeed unique which is still in use, within the town of Thatta. Shahi mosque is located 62 miles (98 kilometers) east of the provincial capital of Sindh; Karachi, it makes for a veritable escape for people from the metropolitan city seeking to visit the charming old town. Mosque was erected in diverse periods. The Shah Jahan Mosque was built in the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, also known as the builder King. It was, according to the local histories, a gift from the Emperor Shah Jehan as a memorial of his regard for the inhabitants and in recognition of the hospitality of the town, wherein he sought refuge for some time while in rebellion against his father Jehangir. Its construction work began in 1644 A.D by Mir Abual-Baqa Amir Khan Namkeen (1644 A.D/1054 A.H) and finished in 1647, but the floor was not laid till eleven years after. Its glorious work style is that of Iranian structure and occupies all over the mosque. The mosque is built with red bricks with blue colored glazed tiles probably imported from the town of Hala. There are one hundred domes erected irrespective of small and big, three of them are big, which are beautiful and attractive. There are also on walls and domes, calligraphy (Kutbas) by the renowned calligraphers. The mosque has overall 100 domes and it is world's largest mosque having such number of domes. It has been built keeping acoustics in mind. A person speaking inside one end of the dome can be heard at the other end. One can not recollect such a good-looking and magnificent mosque.
The mosque, a heavy brick structure of simple construction built upon a stone plinth, with heavy square pillars and massive walls, is centered on a courtyard 169' x 97'. The prayer chamber is of a similar size. Both are covered by large domes. On the north and south two aisled galleries open by means of arcades onto the courtyard. Ninety three domes cover the entire structure, and are probably the cause of a remarkable echo, which enables the prayers in front of the Mehrab to be heard in any part of the building. According to a report of Archaeological Survey of Western India, No. 8, published in Bombay 1879 A.D., “The Construction of the mosque have cost 9 lack of rupees.” After that, in different periods the repair and furnished works also continued. The mosque contains the most elaborate display of tile-work in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. The two main chambers, in particular, are entirely covered with them. Their domes have been exquisitely laid with a mosaic of radiating blue and white tiles. Stylish floral patterns, akin to the seventeenth century Kashi work of Iran, decorate the spandrels of the main arches and elsewhere geometrical designs on square tiles are disposed in a series of panels. It is built in the form of a caravanserai, a great court enclosed by a corridor of ninety domed compartments, exclusive of the mosque proper in the middle of one side and its counterpart opposite. This edifice is rectangular in shape, it measures 315 feet long by 190 feet wide, and covers a space of 6316 square yards. The exterior is quite plain and white-washed, but the whole interior, from the ground level to the centre of the highest dome, is covered with the most amazing variety of beautiful patterns worked out in colored tiles. Many of the small domes along the sides are not so covered now, but probably were originally for the whole edifice was in terrible disrepair, and at that time, and the British Government and noblemen of Thatta collectively contributed the money for repair and renovation of the mosque. Higher up the designs are not printed on square or hexagonal tiles, as they are in the tombs on the Makli hill, but worked out in mosaic with minute tiles of different colors and shapes. There are on sun-backed bricks, tiles and stones, different kinds of Quranic verses embossed on them. The Shah Jahan Mosque is a great example of highly defined tile work. In total this mosque has 33 arches and 93 domes which are of different sizes which add the flavor to its beauty. White and Blue tiles of glowing texture have been put together in such a manner that it looks like a beautiful mosaic. The characteristic that makes this mosque unique is that it has no minarets in it and it has only one dome which lies in the central prayer hall.
The interior of this building is beautifully painted in encaustic, the delicacy and harmony of the coloring being a remarkable stonework in different parts of this mosque. It would, in all probability, like the tombs on the Makli hill, had long since fallen into decay, had not the inhabitants of Thatta, by subscriptions raised among them, assisted by a money grant from the British Government, put the building into substantial repair.