Jama Masjid is India’s biggest mosque. It’s pretty unremarkable from the outside, crammed on four sides by traffic-jammed streets and stalls seemingly unaware of the rather larger building in their midst, but once you climb the steps you’re presented with its facade, which is impressive.
It was Shah Jahan’s “final architectural triumph”. But as someone who needs their shoes, I’m not welcome. So I sat outside under the watchful gaze of various men. *sigh*
On a happier note, the Feroz Shah Kotla was well worth a visit. Set in relaxed, shady gardens, there’s a 13m-high Hawa Mahal topped by a column that was shipped from Topra Kalan in Northern India.On the obelisk are inscriptions attributed to the Mauryan King Ashok. He reigned from c. 268 to 232 BC and there is some debate over whether he inspired the Buddha (exact dates unknown) or vice versa.
Or perhaps it was a bit of both – like an ancient rap battle.
It was also the site of plenty of selfie requests. Two women approached to ask, and we ended up with another family photo shoot comprising (almost) every possible combination (including the kid). I figured if I’m going to do it, I might as well do it with good grace.
Isa Khan’s tomb was built 20 years before Humayun’s. Which, in turn, predates the Taj Mahal by about 60 years.
And it’s clearly the Taj’s inspiration which is, in fact, a concatenation of Jahangir’s and Humayun’s tombs (see the images below – the Taj is in the bottom right):
In 1533, Emperor Humayun (1508 to 1556) ordered the construction of the city he called Dinpanah (“the refuge of the faithful”). Emperor Humayun was first Mughal emperor and the father of Akbar. He died falling down the steps of his library. Or from the roof after taking opium and going up to look at the stars, if you believe a guide I overheard later (although this might be a special tourist interpretation of events as falling down the stairs is not very rock n’ roll).
Humanyun’s tomb is 50 metres tall and built on a 4,000 sqm platform. It took just 8 years to build and over 160 members of the royal family are now buried in the lower cells.
It’s surrounded by symmetrical gardens. Interesting (unproven) fact: the term for a walled garden in Faris is “pairi daeza” which is where the English word “paradise” comes from.
On Thursdays, special prayers are made at the mosque – we walked out against the tide of Indians coming to visit the mosque.
Qwaali is sufi devotional music. It’s my favourite genre of music to watch – you can listen to all the CDs you like, but I came nowhere near understanding it until I saw it. Unfortunately, it’s rarely played in the UK, so I took the opportunity to hear some at Hazrat Nizam-ud-din-Dargah (round the corner from Humayan’s tomb) – apparently, it’s performed every Thursday evening.
It wasn’t qwaali, but something intense was definitely going on – a procession where a group of men holding a folded up flag, held horizontally, exited the temple and danced frantically to loud drums. Once satisfied, they’d move on and the next group would emerge. I had no idea what was going on, but it looked and sounded pretty incredible:
A very informative and enjoyable day.
