Photo Essay: Inside and Outside the World’s Greatest and Grandest Mosque - Page 4

This stone mosque is welcoming even to non-Muslims. One can sit inside the main complex or lounge against the balcony railings or stretch out on the floor without any Mullah bothering about one's religion. In fact, the place is ideally suited for reading. The book does not necessarily have to be the Koran.

Remnant of a Lost Glory

Every beautiful story has a sad ending. So it is with this mosque, too. Once, Old Delhi was the center of the world and Jama Masjid, its crowning glory, shone with glittering lamps, gold-plated doors, and silken curtains. Now, only a sad-looking chandelier limply hangs down from the dome, the corridors are haunted by bats, the stairs are lined by hungry pilgrims, and unemployed Muslim youths play cricket under its shadow.

The truth is that Jama Masjid has fallen from its original royal stature to a mere sad reminder of its former glory. It closely resembles a starving fakeer tightly clutching onto the rags of a used kaftan donated to him by a rich noble.

Indeed, the edges of the stony dome blurs with three-dimensional perspectives. It stands as a relic to the great past of the Muslim empire in India. It serves as a mirror into the pathos of present day Indian Muslims. It holds out an unpromising peek into the grim future of the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent.

Khuda Hafiz.

Article Author: Mayank Austen Soofi

Mayank Austen Soofi owns a private library and four blogs: The Delhi Walla, Pakistan Paindabad, Ruined By Reading, and Mayank Austen Soofi Photos. Contact: mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com

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