Lal Qila (Red Fort)

Last week when we were in Delhi, I (Aaron) went to see Lal Qila more commonly known as the Red Fort. This was also the day that I visited Jama Masjid.

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 (home of the Taj Mahal) 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 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.

The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the moats that surround most of the wall. The Yamuna no longer flows near the fort and the moats are now empty. Construction on the Red Fort began in 1638 and was complete by 1648.

The Red Fort was conceived as a whole, and subsequent modifications have not taken away from the overall unity of the scheme. In the 18th century, however, occupiers and looters damaged some sections of the palace.

After the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 (the first of the great Indian mutinees), when the Fort was used as a headquarters, the British Army occupied and destroyed many of its pavilions and gardens. A program for restoring the surviving parts of the fort began in 1903.

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 United Kingdom (1947).

At one point of time, more than 3000 people lived within the premises of the Delhi Fort complex. But after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the fort was captured by Britain and was made the headquarters of the British Indian Army. After India was given independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, the Indian Army took control over the fort. In December 2003 the Indian Army handed the fort over to the Indian tourist authorities.

View of the front of the fort. In the front is the large outer wall topped with green grass. In front of this wall was the moat which surrounded the fort. Behind the wall is one of the gates, topped by the fluttering flag of India; this is now the entrance for the general public.



This is a view looking from left to right of the wall shown in the picture above, the area which is covered in green grass is what remains of the moat.



One thing that is hard to get used to is the military presence in the fort. I was walking and bumped something, I looked and it was a fully automatic rifle mounted on a platform similar to this one. I could see through the clear magazine that the weapon was loaded. There are soldiers with weapons roaming the entire premises. This particular Sikh gaurd with his weapon was near the entrance.



There were many buildings in the fort although not all of them are open to the general public. These are three of the original building and were all very interesting. I tried to imagine what they looked like when they were richly decorated and painted. Shah Jahan sitting on his royal throne and entertaining guests. The opulence would have truly been something to behold.



This is a picture of the inside of the Rang Mahal (Palace of Color). The outside of this building can be seen in the picture above; it is the building on the right. This palace was also called the Palace of Distinction during the time of Shah Jahan. Originally it would have been richly painted and there were small pieces of mirror embedded in the walls and especially the ceiling, when the light hit them it would glitter and present an awesome sight. I have been in some palaces here decorated the same way; it would be dark within and then someone would light a single candle- the entire room would light up. Through the center of this room there is a trough-like channel running through the building. This was called the Stream of Paradise because it once was filled with running water. This was not only for visual affect. The flowing water would have the breeze blow over it and would act like an air cooler; it was quite affective.