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Posted by Benoit Darrieux (Tripoli, Lebanon) on 18 January 2009 in Architecture and Portfolio.

Jama Masjid, the oldest mosque in New-Delhi, built between 650 - 655. It can contain 25 000 people for the pray.

The Masjid-i Jahan-Namaa (Persian: مسجد جھان نما, the 'World-reflecting Mosque'), commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in India and the largest mosque in Asia. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, and completed in the year 1656 AD, it is one of the largest and best-known mosques in India. It is also at the beginning of a very busy and popular street/center in Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk. The later name, Jaama Masjid is a reference to the weekly Friday noon congregation prayers required from the Muslims to do in congregation, usually at a mosque, which then takes up the popular name of "congregational mosque" or jaama masjid. The courtyard of the mosque can hold up to twenty-five thousand worshippers. The mosque also houses several relics in a closet in the north gate, including a copy of the Qur'an written on deer skin.

The mosque was the result of the efforts of over 5,000 workers, over a period of six years. The cost incurred on the construction in those times was 10 lakh (1 million) Rupees.

Shah Jahan built several important mosques in Delhi, Agra, Ajmer and Lahore. The Jama Masjid's floorplan is very similar to the Jama Masjid at Agra,[citation needed] but the Jama Masjid is the bigger and more imposing of the two. Its majesty is further enhanced because of the high ground that he selected for building this mosque. The architecture and design of the Badshahi Masjid of Lahore built by Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb in 1673 is closely related to the Jama Masjid in Delhi.

COMMENTS FROM WIKIPEDIA, the Free Encyclopedia.

As well... loubnan.aminus3.com

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