Red Fort (Lal Qila)

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.

At the end of the Chatta Chowk is the Naubat Khana (Drum house) where ceremonial music was played by the musicians to glorify the emperor and special tunes were played to announce the arrival of the royalty and important dignitaries. The drum house has four floors and it also served as a gate house 'Hathi Pol' where the visiting dignitaries had to leave their horses and elephants. The red sandstone walls are beautifully decorated with floral designs originally painted in gold with an inner courtyard surrounded by galleries. But the galleries were removed as the fort underwent a number of changes when it became the British Army Headquarters. Just above the Naubat Khana is the Indian War Memorial Museum which has a collection of armours, guns, swords and other items related to war. There is the Swatantra Sangrama Sangrahalaya  (Museum of the Independence movement) displaying letters, photos, newspaper cuttings located amongst the army buildings just before Naubat Khana.