The Red Fort or the Lal Quila, situated on the western bank of the river
Yamuna forms the majestic centerpiece of Mughal Emperor Shahajahan's
medieval walled city 'Shah Jahanabad' (Old Delhi). This sandstone citadel
encompasses grand audience halls, marble palaces ornamented with exquisite
pietra dura once embedded with precious stones, a market place where the
royalty used to shop, a mosque, gardens with marbled fountains, plazas,
baths etc. The Red Fort is enclosed by nearly 2 1/2 km of battlement walls
which vary in height from 18.5 m (60ft) at its highest watch towers on
the river side to 33m on the city side and is surrounded by a 9m deep
moat. It was here, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of
India, unfurled the Indian flag on 15 August 1947 commemorating the
end of the British colonial rule. Every year on Independence day, the
Prime minister addresses a huge crowd assembled in the Maidan (ground)
overlooking the fort, from its Lahore gate.
Shahjahan, started the construction of this massive fort in 1638, when
he shifted the capital from Agra to Delhi. The fort was completed along
with the huge city of Shajahanabad after nine years on 16th April 1648.
The city was laid out with wide roads, residential quarters, bazars, mosques
and enclosed in a rubble built wall with 14 gates, some of which still
exists. The main street was Chandni Chouk with a tree lined canal flowing
down its centre and the remarkable buildings which showed off the magnificence
of Mughal style architecture were the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque
in India and the Red fort. Now Chandni Chowk is a crowded colourful market
bustling with shops, craftsmen's workshops, hotels, mosques and temples.
The fort got its name from the ample use of red sandstone
walls and is octagon in shape. The two main gateways are the Lahore Gate
and the Delhi Gate. The entrance is through the Lahore Gate which
forms a part of a massive stone fortification and is made up of dull pink
sandstone. The path leads to the vaulted shopping arcade known as
Chatta Chowk, lined with shops originally where the royal household
used to shop for silks, brocades, velvets, gold and silver ware jewellery,
gems etc. The arcade was also known as Meena bazar which offered exclusive
shopping, just for ladies of the court on Thursdays. Today the shops cater
to tourists with souvenirs, antiques etc and the upper levels are the
quarters of Indian Army families.
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