JAMA MASJID MOSQUE

The largest mosque in the country can accommodate 25,000 worshipers on its esplanade. Masterpiece of Mughal architecture, it was the last monument erected by Shah Jahan in the late 17th century. For the tourists, the access to the mosque is done by the door 1 exclusively. The women can borrow large dresses intended to camouflage too light clothes. They must cover their heads in the mosque. Men must wear pants and it is preferable to have a shirt or a T-shirt with long sleeves. The mosque is visited barefoot. You can also leave them with the guard, for a few rupees.

Masjid-i-Jahan-Numa: the original name of the mosque means "mosque mirror of the world". It is now better known as Jama Masjid or Friday Mosque. Its construction began in 1644. It was inaugurated on July 23, 1656 by Imam Bukhari, a mullah from Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan. The will of the emperor Shah Jahan was to build the largest mosque in India, in fact the third largest in the world after Mecca and Medina. It is still considered today as the 7th largest mosque in the world. Its plan is based on the classical Mughal architecture: a raised quadrilateral with three majestic doors on the north, east and south. The western wall is the mihrab, facing Mecca. Four towers topped with chhatri occupy each corner of the enclosure. The main gate on the east side, the most imposing, was used by the emperor and opens directly onto the prayer hall built at the end of the huge esplanade. All of red sandstone and white marble, access to the prayer hall is through a pishtak (arch-shaped portal that protrudes) surrounded by two small columns topped by chhatri. Two 40-meter high minarets dominate each end of the western wall. Each minaret is also topped by a chhatri. On the roof rest 3 bulbous domes with high drums. The prayer hall is 61 meters long and 27 meters deep. On the floor, white and black marble slabs delimited by a thin black border show the prayer mats. The prayer hall is crossed by arches with red sandstone spikes inlaid with white marble floral motifs.

The reliquary on the north wall contains a hair of the Prophet, his sandals and a Qur'an written on a deer skin.