Jama Masjid (Delhi)

The Jama Masjid ( Masjid Jami also; urdu " Friday Mosque " ), actually Masjid -i Jahan Numa ( Persian " mosque, which looks at the world " ), in Delhi is the largest mosque in India and one of the largest of the Earth. It is located on a nine-foot elevation in the center of Shahjahanabad, named after the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Old Delhi. The construction was carried out on the orders of Shah Jahan 1650-1656 (according to other sources 1644-1658 ) under the supervision of State Opera Said Khan and Fazl Khan. 5000 craftsmen were involved.

The Jama Masjid stands on the west side of a walled courtyard, the ascending stairways and three two-storey gatehouses is accessible through three pages. The eastern and largest gate was once reserved for the Mughal emperors. On the 90 -meter-long court will find more than 20,000 worshipers. In its center a pool of water for cleaning in front of the prayer. The front of the mosque is symmetric. On the high central Ivan close on either side of five arcades on each rises at the end of a 40 -meter high minaret. Each of the two minarets crowned by a twelve -sided, open pavilion. Three white, fitted with vertical black stripes onion domes, the central one is the largest, complete the mosque. For the construction of red sandstone has been used mainly. The facade is partly covered with white marble, are embedded in the Persian inscriptions. The domes are made of white marble, the strip of black marble. The 260 columns lined prayer hall is oriented to the west to Mecca.