| Delhi Tour Red
Fort
Red Fort one of the most spectacular pieces of
Mughal Architecture is the Lal Quila or the Red Fort.
Built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan between 1638 and
1648, the Red Fort has walls extending up to 2 kms. in
length with the height varying from 18 mts. on the river
side to 33 mts. on the city side.
The
largest of old Delhi's monuments is the Lal Quila, or
the Red Fort, the thick red sandstone walls of which,
bulging with turrets and bastions, have withstood the
vagaries of time, and nature. The Lal Quila rises above
a wide dry moat, in the northeast corner of the original
city of Shahjahanabad.
Mughal Emperor Shahjahan started the construction of the
massive fort in 1638, and work was completed in 1648.
The fort sports all the obvious trappings, befitting a
vital centre of Mughal government: halls of public and
private audience, domed and arched marble palaces, plush
private apartments, a mosque, and elaborately designed
gardens. Even today, the fort remains an impressive
testimony to Mughal grandeur, despite being attacked by
the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah in 1739, and by the
British soldiers, during the war of independence in
1857.
In
1638 Shahjahan transferred his capital from Agra to
Delhi and laid the foundations of Shahjahanabad, the
seventh city of Delhi. It is enclosed by a rubble stone
wall, with bastions, gates and wickets at intervals. Of
its fourteen gates, the important ones are the Mori,
Lahori, Ajmeri, Turkman, Kashmiri and Delhi gates, some
of which have already been demolished. His famous
citadel, the Lal-Qila, or the Red Fort, lying at the
town's northern end on the right bank or the Yamuna and
south of Salimgarh, was begun in 1639 and completed
after nine years. The Red Fort is different from the
Agra fort and is better planned, because at its back
lies the experience gained by Shahjahan at Agra, and
because it was the work of one hand. It is an irregular
octagon, with two long sides on the east and west, and
with two main gates, one on the west and the other on
the south, called Lahori and Delhi gates respectively.
While the walls, gates and a few other structures in the
fort are constructed of red sandstone, marble has been
largely used in the palaces.
From
the western gateway after passing through the vaulted
arcade, called Chhatta-Chowk, one reaches the Naubat- or
Naqqar-Khana ('Drum-house'), where ceremonial music was
played and which also served as the entrance to the
Diwan-i-'Am. Its upper storey is now occupied by the
Indian War Memorial Museum.
The Diwan-i-' Am ('Hall of Public Audience') is a
rectangular hall, three aisle deep, with a façade of
nine arches. At the back of the hall is an alcove, where
the royal throne stood under a marble canopy, with an
inlaid marble dias below it for the prime minister. The
wall behind the throne is ornamented with beautiful
panels of pietra dura work, said to have been executed
by Austin de Bordeaux, a Florentine artist. Orpheus with
his lute is represented in one of the panels here.
Originally there were six marble palaces along the
eastern water front. Behind the Diwan-i-' Am but
separated by a court is the
Rang-Mahal ('Painted Palace'), so called owing to
coloured decoration on its interior. It consists of a
main hall with an arched front, with vaulted chambers on
either end. A water-channel, called the Nahr-i-Bihisht
('Stream of Paradise'), ran down through it, with a
central marble basin fitted with an ivory fountain. The
Mumtaz-Mahal, originally an important apartment in the
imperial seraglio, now houses the Delhi Fort Museum.
The Diwan-i-Khass ('Hall of Private Audience') is
a highly-ornamented pillared hall, with a flat ceiling
supported on engrailed arches. The lower portion of its
piers is ornamented with floral pietra dura panels,
while the upper portion was originally gilded and
painted. Its marble dias is said to have supported the
famous Peacock Throne, carried away by the Persian
invader Nadir Shah.
The Tasbih-Khana ('chamber for counting beads for
private prayers') consists of three rooms, behind
which is the Khwabgah ('sleeping-chamber'). On the
northern screen of the former is a representation of the
Scales of Justice, which are suspended over a crescent
amidst stars and clouds. Adjoining the eastern wall of
the Khwabgah is the octagonal Muthamman-Burj, from where
the emperor appeared before his subjects every morning.
A small balcony, which projects from the Burj, was added
here in 1808 by Akbar Shah II, and it was from this
balcony that King George V and Queen Mary appeared
before the people of Delhi in December 1911.
The Hammam ('Bath') consists of three main
apartments divided by corridors. The entire interior,
including the floor, is built of marble and inlaid with
coloured stones. The baths were provided with 'hot and
cold water’, and it is said that one of the fountains in
the easternmost apartment emitted rose water. To the
west of the Hammam is the Moti-Masjid ('Pearl Mosque'),
added later by Aurangzeb.
The Hayat-Bakhsh-Bagh ('Life-giving garden'), with
its pavilions, lies to the north of the mosque, and was
later considerably altered and reconstructed. The
red-stone pavilion in the middle of the tank in the
centre of the Hayat-Bakhsh-Bagh is called Zafar-Mahal
and was built by Bahadur Shah II in about 1842.
In 1644, Shahjahan commenced in Delhi his great mosque,
the Jami'- Masjid the largest mosque in India, and
completed it in 1650. Its square quadrangle with arched
cloisters on the sides and a tank in the centre is 100
m. wide. Built on a raised plinth, it has three imposing
gateways approached by long flights of steps. Its
prayer-hall, with a facade of eleven arches, flanked by
a four-storeyed minaret on either end, is covered by
three large domes ornamented with alternating stripes of
'black and white marble.
Entrance Fee:
Citizens of India and visitors of SAARC (Bangladesh,
Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives and
Afghanistan) and BIMSTEC Countries (Bangladesh, Nepal,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar) - Rs.10 per
head.
Others:
Rs. 250/- per head (Free entry to children up to 15
years) |
