A WALK THROUGH JAMA MASJID
On 6th october 2012,
we went for a heritage walk to the Jama Masjid, another excursion with the
new members of the club in 2012. It is the largest and the best known mosque in
India, commissioned by mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the year 1656 AD. A total
of 22 students went accompanied by Ms. Sunita Saini and Ms. Seema Lal.When we reached there, we saw Dr. Navina Jaffa already engaging a large group of people in her talk about the monument. We quickly positioned ourselves to hear the interesting things she had to tell.We got to know how this famous mosque got its name from 'Jumma' referring to the weekly friday noon congreagation prayers.
Dr. Jaffa told us how
the mosque has been witness to various eras namely the Mughal period, the
British rule, india's partition and the monument still remains, to witness,
hopefully, many more times to come. We got to know about the several relics
that the mosque houses including an antique copy of the Quran written on deer
skin, a strand of hair from Prophet Mohammad's beard, his sandal made from
camel's skin and a marble slab having footprint of the prophet.
We were told how the
Imam of the mosque interacted with the people assembled outside the mosque and
recited verses from the Quran. After that Dr. Jaffantold us about the
architecture of the mosque. Jama Masjid can be entered from both the
directions- North and South gates. The eastern gateway is supposed to remain
open on Friday and was used by the emperor himself. We got to know an
interesting fact that the mosque is an incomplete structure as it has two
minarets instead of the usual four. This is due to the fact that it was built
on a hill whih provided less space. But this feature is what makes it unique
and the most beautiful. After the talk ended, we checked out the big mosque and
clicked photographs. We saw a beautiful view of the Red Fort from where
Aurangzeb saw the mosque before anything else in the morning everyday.
