The
Delhi Fort also known as Lal Qil'ah, or Lal Qila, meaning the Red Fort, located
in Delhi, India is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Red Fort
The
Delhi Fort also known as Lal Qil'ah, or Lal Qila, meaning the Red Fort, located
in Delhi, India is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Red Fort was the palace for Mughal Emperor
Shah Jahan's new capital, Shahjahanabad, the seventh Muslim city in the Delhi
site. He moved his capital from Agra in a move designed to bring prestige to his
reign, and to provide ample opportunity to apply his ambitious building schemes
and interests. The Red Fort stands at the eastern edge of Shahjahanabad, and
gets its name from the massive wall of red sandstone that defines its four
sides. The wall is 1.5 miles (2.5 km) long, and varies in height from 60ft (16m)
on the river side to 110 ft (33 m) towards the city. Measurements have shown
that the plan was generated using a square grid of 82 m.
General view of the complexThe fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the
moats that surround most of the wall. The wall at its north-eastern corner is
adjacent to an older fort, the Salimgarh Fort, a defense built by Islam Shah
Suri in 1546. Construction on the Red Fort began in 1638 and was complete by
1648. However, it is believed that it is the ancient city of Lal Kot which was
captured by Shah Jahan since Lal Kot literally means Red (Lal) Fort (Kot). Lal
Kot was the capital city of Prithviraj Chauhan in the late 12th century.
The walls of the fort are smoothly dressed, articulated by heavy string-courses
along the upper section. They open at two major gates, the Delhi and the Lahore
gates. The Lahore Gate is the main entrance; it leads to a long covered bazaar
street, the Chatta Chowk, whose walls are lined with stalls for shops. The
Chatta Chowk leads to a large open space where it crosses the large north-south
street that was originally the division between the fort's military functions,
to its west, and the palaces, to its east. The southern end of this street is
the Delhi Gate. On axis with the Lahore gate and the Chatta Chowk, on the
eastern side of the open space, is the Naqqar Khana ("drum house"), the main
gate for the palace, named for the musicians' gallery above it. Beyond this gate
is another, larger open space, which originally served as the courtyard of the
Diwan-i-Am, the large pavilion for public imperial audiences. An ornate
throne-balcony for the emperor stands at the center of the eastern wall of the
Diwan, conceived as a copy of the throne of Solomon.
The Red Fort by night.The two southernmost pavilions of the palace are zenanas,
or women's quarters: the Mumtaz Mahal (now a museum), and the larger, lavish
Rang Mahal, which has been remarked for its gilded, decorated ceiling and marble
pool, fed by the Nahr-i-Behisht. The third pavilion from the south, the Khas
Mahal, contains the imperial chambers. These include a suite of bedrooms, prayer
rooms, a veranda, and the Mussaman Burj, a tower built against the fortress
walls, from which the emperor would show himself to the people in a daily
ceremony. The next pavilion is the Diwan-i-Khas, the lavishly decorated hall of
private audience, used for ministerial and court gatherings. This finest of the
pavilions is ornamented with floral pietra dura patterns on the columns, with
precious stones and gilding. A painted wooden ceiling has replaced the original
one, of silver inlaid with gold.
The Red Fort is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Delhi,
attracting millions of visitors every year. The fort is also the site from which
the Prime Minister of India addresses the nation on August 15 , the day India
achieved independence from the British.