Travel: JAMA MASJID AT DELHI

Jama Masjid

Vini and I took yet another cycle rickshaw from Red Fort Jama Masjid. It was a fair distance, first travelling through the main road to the interior road that was an upward slope.

Incidentally, Jama Masjid is a large mosque, built by Emperor Shah Jahan in the seventeenth century. Click here to read more on its history.

The entrance to Jama Masjid

The road winded upwards for a while before we came to Jama Masjid, an imposing structure. There was tight security at the entrance here same as every place in Delhi. A wide staircase climbed up to the mosque. We went up only to be told that the evening prayer was going on. We had to wait for some time before we were allowed to enter.

There was a group of six people from Canberra, Australia, who were also waiting to go inside Jama Masjid. We struck a conversation with them in the interim. The group was on its way to Manali the next day. We clicked some pictures of the outside and waited for the prayer session to get over.

A view from above

It was about 20 minutes before we could go inside after leaving our shoes at the entrance. A man charged us Rs. 200 for carrying our camera inside and gave us a receipt of sorts for the same. I am 100% sure that he was making a fool of us. But we could not do much as he insisted that we pay up and there was nobody around to whom we could make enquiries. I was keen to take pictures and hence we paid up, just as other groups around us.

At the mosque

The mosque is basically a large square with a square pond in the centre. There were domes and minarets all around that were simply awesome. Some kids were feeding the pigeons there – must have been hundreds of pigeons. The pigeons rose up in the air when a couple of kids ran at them. It was an amazing sight and I managed to capture that on my camera.

Pigeons take flight

We walked around, seeing the place in the setting sun. I felt a strong sense of peace steal over me as we went around this historical place of worship. Millions and millions of people must have prayed within these precincts and the energy could be felt strongly. Jama Masjid is a beautiful place and a must visit in Delhi.

Click here to see more pictures of Jama Masjid. 

Vini praying at Jama Masjid