Fodor's Expert Review Jama Masjid
An exquisite statement in red sandstone and marble, India's largest mosque was the last monument commissioned by Shah Jahan; it was completed in 1656 after six years of work by 5,000 laborers. Three sets of broad steps lead to two-story gateways and a magnificent courtyard with a square ablution tank in the center. The entire space is enclosed by pillared corridors, with domed pavilions in each corner. Thousands gather to pray here, especially on Friday.
With its onion-shaped dome and tapering minarets, the mosque is characteristically Mughal, but Shah Jahan added an innovation: the stripes running up and down the marble domes and minarets. Climb the south minaret to see the domes up close, and to see how finely the mosque contrasts with the commercial streets around it. Look into the prayer hall (you can only enter after a ritual purification at the ablution tank) for the pulpit carved from a single slab of marble. In one corner is a room where Shah Jahan installed the marble... READ MORE
An exquisite statement in red sandstone and marble, India's largest mosque was the last monument commissioned by Shah Jahan; it was completed in 1656 after six years of work by 5,000 laborers. Three sets of broad steps lead to two-story gateways and a magnificent courtyard with a square ablution tank in the center. The entire space is enclosed by pillared corridors, with domed pavilions in each corner. Thousands gather to pray here, especially on Friday.
With its onion-shaped dome and tapering minarets, the mosque is characteristically Mughal, but Shah Jahan added an innovation: the stripes running up and down the marble domes and minarets. Climb the south minaret to see the domes up close, and to see how finely the mosque contrasts with the commercial streets around it. Look into the prayer hall (you can only enter after a ritual purification at the ablution tank) for the pulpit carved from a single slab of marble. In one corner is a room where Shah Jahan installed the marble footprints of the Prophet Mohammed. Each of the arched colonnades has black-marble inscriptions inlaid in white marble that relate the history of the building.
If you're feeling hungry, the restaurant Karim's is in the shadow of the Jama Masjid. The site is closed to non-Muslims from noon--1:30 pm and during prayer hours.
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