Photo Essay: Inside and Outside the World’s Greatest and Grandest Mosque - Page 2

This was not to be so this afternoon. The streets were crowded. Beggars were crying "Ya Allah" with all their passion. Chirping families were busy buying clothes, bed sheets, socks, sandals, and kitchen utensils. At one corner, even kebabs were being roasted. Were people actually keeping fast? Could it be that Muslims have finally started being less conservative?

At The Entrance

In spite of this being the second week of October, the air was uncomfortably warm. After climbing over the final step and reaching the landing, a notice board greeted the visitors asking them to take off the shoes. But there was a problem. There were no guards to look after the shoes. What if somebody stole them?

To make one feel more uncomfortable, there was a thuggish looking man holding a wooden club with which he was shooing away any ignorant bumpkin stupid enough to sneak by with his shoes on. An old man helpfully suggested taking off the shoes and carrying them in the hands. As long as the shoes do not touch the sacredness of the holy ground, it would be fine, he assured.

Inside the Mosque

The facade of the mosque had a spectacular dazzle that had the power to stir the senses of an unsuspecting visitor. The great dome appeared to be a giant drop that must have trickled out of Islam's greatest moment when it ruled all of South Asia; when its Mughal dynasty was at the peak of its glory and gleam; when Islam was breathing its best days in the region.

Jama Masjid was commissioned by Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who had earlier created Taj Mahal in the memory of his departed wife. The poor empress had died during the labor pains of her 14th child's birth.

Toppled by his son and doomed to spend the last days in a prison cell whose window looked out to a faraway view of Taj Mahal, Shahjahan was a man of colorful personality. It was rumored he had a romantic relationship with his own daughter, Jahanara. The unfazed emperor had defended his feelings by asking what crime it was to pick grapes from a plant he himself had planted!