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| Purana Qila, Bara Darwaaza |
Purana
Qila (old fort) is one of the
oldest forts in Delhi. Old Fort is 5000 years
old and was basically the boundary wall of the city of Delhi then. The city was built by the Mughal
emperor Humayun. He decided to build a city that was called Dipanah that means
the refuge of faith.
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| The two walls |
Some interesting facts !!
1) The walls of the fort are 20 meters tall and 4 meters thick. The fort is enclosed by 2 walls, one inside wall and the other outside wall. Between the walls there was a water body to prevent attacks. The walls and gates were made in one year.
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| Talaqi Darwaaza |
2) The fort has four gates in total. There
are two double storied arched gate ways called Humayun Darwaza and Talaqi
Darwaza. The first and main gate is called Bara Darwaza. It is a triple storey structure and the gate is 20 meters high. The walls have some holes
for arrows and guns. The forth Darwaza had a moat linked to the river Yamuna, made perhaps to escape in the event of an attack.
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| Sher Mandal |
3) Sher Mandal is a small octagonal red
stone tower on the right side of the Talaqi Darwaza. Humayun used this as his
library. He slipped on the stairs of this tower and eventually died because of
the injuries he sustained. Rumors exist that after the death of Humayun, the
Mughals considered the fort to be cursed and vacated the structure. The Mughals
then constructed a new fort known as Lal quila (Red Fort)
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| Main gate of Masjid |
4) Qila-e-Kuhan Masjid, the names means ‘mosque
of Old Fort’. Qila-e-Kuhan Masjid was a prayer place for Mughals. The Masjid
was built by Sher Shah in 1541. The hall width is 51 meters and the length is
15 meters and the center of the façade is 16.5 cm in height. The Masjid has 5 door
ways with horse shoe arches. Red, yellow sand stone with white and black marble
has been used to build and decorate the Masjid. The apparent idea was to construct
the mosque with white marble but due to shortage of material other material had
to be used.
