India Guide
Delhi
Jama Masjid
Price: free; camera Rs200; tower Rs20
Opening time: Daily 8am–12.15pm & 1.45pm till 30min before sunset; closed for 30min in the afternoon for prayers; opens at 7am in summer
A wonderful piece of Mughal pomp, the red-and-white Jama Masjid is India's largest mosque; its courtyard can hold the prostrated bodies of 25,000 worshippers. Designed by Shah Jahan, and built between 1644 and 1656, it was originally called Masjid-i-Jahanuma ("mosque commanding a view of the world"). Standing on Bho Jhala, one of Shahjahanabad's two hills, it looks east to the sprawling Red Fort, and down on the seething streets of Old Delhi. Broad, red-sandstone staircases lead to gateways on the east, north and southern sides, where worshippers and visitors alike must remove their shoes (do not wear shorts, short skirts or sleeveless tops).
Once inside the courtyard, your eyes will be drawn to the three bulbous marble domes crowning the main prayer hall on the west side (facing Mecca), fronted by a series of high cusped arches, and sheltering the mihrab, the central niche in the west wall indicating the direction of prayer. The pool in the centre is used for ritual ablutions. At each corner of the square yard a slender minaret crowned with a marble dome rises to the sky. Climb the tower (women must be accompanied by a man) south of the main sanctuary for a view over Delhi. In the northeast corner a white shrine protects a collection of Muhammad's relics, including his sandals, a hair from his beard, and his "footprint" miraculously embedded in a marble slab.