People
around Jama MasjidThe Jama Masjid area is about people -
thousands of them, pavement hawkers, and petty shopkeepers, zari-workers
of Motia Mahal, booksellers of Urdu Bazaar, hoteliers and rickshaw
pullers. It is they who live history, if not determine it, recalling a
bygone era recorded by court historians and myth-makers.
Architectural
triumphThe vast paved courtyard is a rectangle nearly
seventy-five metres by sixty-six metres. The whole of the western
chamber is a big hall, standing on 260 pillars all carved from Hindu and
Jain traditions. The central courtyard is accessible from the East,
though there are three ways on the other side too. The Eastern side
entrance leads to another enclosure containing the mausoleum of Sultan
Ahmed Shah. Thus it is an architectural triumph.
StructureThis
monument was built between 1644 and 1658 by five thousand artisans.
Having three gateways, four angle towers and two minarets standing 40m
high, it is constructed of alternating vertical strips of red sandstone
and white marble. Originally called the
Masjid-i-Jahanuma, or mosque commanding view of the world, this
magnificent structure stands on the Bho Jhala, one of the two hills of
the old Moghul capital city of Shahjahanabad. Broad flights of steps
lead up to the imposing gateways in the north and the south.
The
main eastern entrance, probably used by the emperors, remains closed on
most days of the week. The main prayer hall on the west side, houses a
niche in a wall that shelters the prayer leader. Worshippers use this
hall on most days but on Fridays and other holy days, the courtyard is
full of devotees offering namaaz. Near the north gate of the mosque
stands a cupboard containing a collection of Muhammad's relics - Korans
written on deerskin, a red beard-hair of the prophet, his sandals and
his footprint, embedded in a marble slab.
a
whole way of life, a microcosm of quintessential India in its
shadow, on its steps, in the narrow streets criss-crossing, Meena
Bazaar and its famous Urdu Bazzar. On the east, this monument faces
the Red Fort (Lal Qila) and has three gateways, four towers and two
minarets. Constructed of alternating vertical strips of red
sandstone and white marble, the Jama Masjid is the largest and
perhaps the most magnificent mosque in India. The sprawling
esplanade, which separates it from the arterial road, is a
fascinating leisure ground. 
