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Jama Masjid Mosque
The
Masjid-i Jaha-n-Numa- commonly known as
the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in
India. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, builder of the
Taj Mahal, and completed in the year 1656 AD, it is the largest and
best-known mosque in India. It lies at the origin of a very busy
central street of Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk. The later name, Ja-mi'
Masjid, is a reference to the weekly Friday noon
congregation prayers of Muslims, which are usually done at a mosque,
the "congregational mosque" or "ja-mi' masjid". The courtyard of the
mosque can hold up to twenty-five thousand worshippers. The mosque also
houses several relics in a closet in the north gate, including a copy
of the Qur'an written on deer skin.The mosque was the result of the efforts of over 5,000 workers, over a period of six years. The cost incurred on the construction in those times was 10 lakh (1 million) Rupees Shah Jahan built several important mosques in Delhi, Agra, Ajmer and Lahore. The Jama Masjid's floorplan is very similar to the Jama Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri near Agra, but the Jamia Masjid is the bigger and more imposing of the two. Its majesty is further enhanced because of the high ground that he selected for building this mosque. The architecture and design of the slightly larger Badshahi Mosque of Lahore built by Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb in 1673 is closely related to the Jamia Masjid in Delhi. |
