India Guide
Delhi
The Red Fort (Lal Qila)
Price: Rs100
Opening time: Tues– Sun sunrise to sunset, museums 10am–5pm
Old Delhi's largest monument, Lal Qila, is known in English as the Red Fort because of its red sandstone. Commissioned by Shah Jahan, it was modelled on the fort at Agra. Work started in 1638, and the emperor moved in ten years later. The fort contains all the trappings of Mughal government: halls of audience, domed and arched marble palaces, plush private apartments, a mosque, and elaborate gardens. As the Mughal Empire declined, the fort fell into disrepair. It was plundered by the Persian emperor Nadir Shah in 1739, and by the British in 1857. Nevertheless, it remains an impressive testimony to Mughal grandeur.
The ramparts, which stretch for over 2km, are interrupted by two gates – Delhi Gate to the south, and Lahori Gate to the west, through which you enter. Lahori Gate opens onto Chatta Chowk, a covered street flanked with arched cells that used to house jewellers, carpet-makers, goldsmiths and silk-weavers, but is now given over to souvenir sellers.
The Naubhat Khana ("Musicians' Gallery") marked the entrance into the royal quarters. Beyond it, a path leads through wide lawns to the Diwan-i-Am, or Hall of Public Audience, where the emperor used to meet commoners and hold court. In those days it was strewn with silk carpets and partitioned with hanging tapestries. Its centrepiece is a marble dais on which sat the emperor's throne, surrounded by twelve panels inlaid with precious stones.
Immediately east, Rang Mahal, the "Palace of Colour", housed the emperor's wives and mistresses. The similar Mumtaz Mahal, south of the main zenana, or women's quarters, now houses an Archeological Museum, displaying manuscripts, paintings, ceramics and textiles.
On the northern side of Rang Mahal, the marble Khas Mahal was the emperor's personal palace, split into separate apartments for worship, sleeping and sitting. To the north, in the large Diwan-i-Khas ("Hall of Private Audience"), he would address the highest nobles of his court. Today it's the finest building in the fort, a marble pavilion shaded by a roof raised on stolid pillars meeting in ornate scalloped arches and embellished with exquisitely delicate inlays of flowers made from semiprecious stones.