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Published: November 2nd 2007
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Jama Masjid Domes
View from the south minaret Considering the less-than-productive Saturday exploration of Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, I wanted to take advantage of the last partial day in Delhi to visit some of its most prominent sites. I had negotiated with my hotel for a late 2:00 PM checkout (instead of the standard Noon checkout). Because my flight to Bangalore that afternoon was not until 5:50 PM, a 2:00 PM checkout would give me plenty of time to get to the airport and go through the security process. A 2:00 PM checkout also meant that I needed to be back at the hotel before 1:30 PM, to give me enough time to finish packing before the actual checkout.
Rajesh picked me up at 8:00 AM and took me to the Old Delhi area where I intended to visit the Red Fort (Lal Qila) and the Jama Masjid mosque. The drive to Old Delhi was actually quite expedited (in sharp contrast with the traffic in the route to Agra) and before I knew it, Rajesh was parking his car on a lot directly in front of the Red Fort's Lahore Gate. Even for the short walk across the street, several rickshaw drivers were offering their services to take
us to the gate. They were very insistent even after we started waking towards a crossing point on the medium of the road.
Unlike the experience the day before in Agra, there were no lines for buying tickets or actually entering the complex. This apparent lack of visitors’ interest though was only the result of my visiting the site early on a Sunday morning.
The Red Fort's impressive and extensive outer wall with its high defensive ramparts and massive gates gives the impression that this complex is larger than it actually is. Once you pass security, with separate access paths for ladies and gents, and you cross Lahore Gate, you enter an inner courtyard and a covered bazaar lined on both sides with souvenir shops. At the time Rajesh and I passed through, most of the shops were still closed.
After the covered bazaar, you pass through Elephant Gate (Hathi Pol), an impressive red sandstone structure and then walking through the inner courtyard's pathway flanked by gardens, you reach Diwan-I-Am, the building were the emperor used to conduct audiences with his subjects. The emperor’s high white marble throne is now protected by a string mesh to keep
Moti Masjid Domed Rooftop
One of Lal Qila's Structures built by the last Mughal emperor, the zealot Aurangzeb pigeons from doing what pigeons typically do all over this priceless historical treasure. While I was there, as if demonstrating disdain for the humans' measure against his kind, a male pigeon was inside the mesh walking defiantly over the white marble throne platform trying to entice a couple of females sitting on the top of the mesh frame to join him.
After Diwan-I-Am, we walked towards the inner sanctum of the complex where the emperor's private living quarters and other auxiliary halls were located. These structures included a private mosque (Moti Masjid), the baths (Hammam rooms), the emperor’s private palace (Khas Mahal) and the Palace of Color (Rang Mahal) where the extensive harem was housed. An annex to the Rang Mahal, the Palace of Jewels (Mumtaz Mahal) is now a small museum, showcasing several artifacts and textiles from the period. I was very surprised that this museum is not climate-controlled. I would guess that some of the invaluable objects contained therein (e.g. textiles) would not last much longer in Delhi’s sweltering climate, mainly in the summer time.
During the entire time of the visit, Rajesh was trying to be a guide for me, but his English skills were
so basic that he was only becoming a constant distraction when he rattled off each building’s name as we approached and then tried unsuccessfully to explain what its purpose was. In any case, his explanations were unnecessary because most structures had English signs providing enough information. These signs complemented the research that I had done before the trip. Compared to the way that Vinod had handled my explorations of Mumbai, Rajesh has some serious professional growing to do.
Before leaving the Red Fort, I decided to visit a couple of the stores on the grounds and check out the prices of a couple of items that my better half had requested me to bring her back. Elizabeth is not really too difficult to please (in the sense that she doesn't make extravagant requests), but she does have a particular taste that any items that I get for her during my travels need to match. I did not find what I was searching for at the Red Fort's souvenir stores, so Rajesh and I exited the complex and headed in the general direction where the Jama Masjid mosque is located.
When we crossed the major road separating the Red
Fort from the rest of Old Delhi, Rajesh was trying to convince me to hire a rickshaw to ride to the mosque. He was insisting that it was too far away to walk there. I took out my Delhi map from my back pack and showed him that it was only a few blocks away from where we were and walking through Old Delhi was part of the experience that I wanted to have. He finally complied reluctantly and we walked to the mosque together.
The Jama Masjid Mosque was another great example of Mughal architecture; its three white domes are visible from a long distance within Old Delhi. I explored the large central courtyard, the central pool, and the enclosing hall that surrounds the courtyard on the three cardinal directions (North, East, and South) not covered by the main mosque structure itself, which must face Mecca (West). This surrounding hall contains arched balconies where you can view the surrounding city.
I had read that the mosque allows visitor access to the top of its south minaret where you get to experience an amazing view of Old Delhi for a very reasonable access fee. I found the place
Field Trip
Elementary school students visiting Lal Qila where the tickets were being sold. After paying the 50-Rupees fee, I started to climb the access point directly above the encircling hall (e.g. over its roof). The minaret in question offered a very narrow spiral stair with enough clearance for barely one person. An interesting situation presented itself when a visitor in the way up encountered a visitor going down.
The view from the top of the minaret was breathtaking. The haze over Delhi (produced undoubtedly by its unrelenting traffic) gave the scene from above an interesting depth as the more distant buildings acquired an increasing bluish-yellow cast that not even skylight filters permanently attached to my lenses appeared to stop.
When I descended from the minaret, Rajesh reminded me that we needed to leave soon because it was already getting close to 12:00 Noon. I did one last round inside the mosque and then we exited through the East Gate where we had originally gained entrance to the mosque. We claimed our shoes from the shoe keeper and then Rajesh insisted one more time that we needed to hire a rickshaw to get back to the car. I had to convince him again that I was
there to experience the place. Before heading in the direction of the car, we walked around the periphery of the outer wall of the mosque that we had not seen when we approached from the North. After this round, we crossed the Old Delhi market and reached the place where Rajesh car was parked. The trip back to the hotel did not take a lot of time, beating the arrival target of 1:00 PM by a couple of minutes. I asked Rajesh to come back at 3:00 PM so that he could take me to the airport to catch my late afternoon flight to Bangalore.
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I just love the angles you see on shots. Great photos...once again!