Hey Love,
I hope you are doing well. In today’s post, I will talk about my visit to Red Fort. Before the lockdown, we went to Chandni Chowk and visited some offbeat places like Ghalib ki Haveli and Naughara Gali. After these two places, we didn’t know what to do, so decided to visit Red Fort. Here are all the details of our visit.
Place: Red Fort
Address: Netaji Subhash Marg, Lal Qila, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, Delhi 110006
How to reach: The nearest Metro station is Chandni Chowk. Take an exit from Gate number 1, and ask anyone about the direction towards Red Fort. As it is nearby, one can walk the distance easily.
Entry Ticket: Rs. 90 for Indians and Rs. 950 for foreigners. The ticket counter is not nearby Red Fort, so instead of reaching it directly, ask anyone about the ticket counter. We could not find it and we were tired to walk a long way to the counter, so we booked our tickets online.
Visiting Hours: 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. It remains closed on Monday. You can also visit the place for Light and sound show which starts 6:00 PM onwards. The show is in both Hindi and English languages. We didn’t watch the Light and Sound Show, so can’t say anything about it.
About the Red Fort
Formerly known as Quila-e-Mubarak or the Blessed Fort, the Red Fort lies along the banks of the river Yamuna. The Red Fort is a historical monument in the old Delhi area. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty, a part of the medieval city of Shah Jahan, popularly known today as ‘Old Delhi’. With history and heritage associated with it, the Red Fort is one of the most popular monuments in India and a major tourist attraction in Delhi. It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2007.
A brief history of Red Fort
When Shahan Jahan decided to shift its capital from Agra to Delhi, he assigned Ustad Ahman Lahauri, the architect of the Taj Mahal to build a fort in Delhi. They started the construction of the fort in 1638, in the holy month of Muharram and completed it in 1648.
My Experience
We entered through the Lahori Gate, and from there we entered a courtyard. From this courtyard, you can have a close look of the Tiranga hoisted at the top. From this courtyard, we entered a huge walkway. It is a beautiful sight and guess why?? There is a market. The very famous Meena Bazaar, and it is so alluring and radiant. This market has an old charm to it, there was everything which fascinated me as a kid. There were colourful bags, juttis, accessories, kathputli (yes, there were kathputli too, and I fell in love with them), so many chess boards, miniatures of Ashoka Pillar (I am regretting that I didn’t buy one), and so many more things. The market made me felt like a tourist in my city.
After this, we wandered around the fort, the fort is built in 254-acre area, and there is something eye-catching everywhere. Just after the Meena Bazaar, there is Naubat Khana, which was the drum house. There is Rang Mahal, a palace where the emperor’s wives were housed. Khas Mahal, made with white marble, this is the apartment of the emperor, Diwan-i-Aam, the public audience hall. A little walk away is Hira Mahal, a marble pavilion built by Bahadur Shah II. Moti Masjid, the private mosque of the Aurangzeb (it is closed so one cannot have a proper look at it). From there little far away is Hayat Bakhsh Bhag, remember that most of these remain closed, you can see them from far away but cannot enter them. My friend and later my parents told me, that it was not like this earlier, they were open and we could enter them. I was a little sad at seeing them closed, but I understand that it is an important step to preserve the fort.
The architecture is beautiful, the white colour amid red surroundings looks beautiful. There are also few buildings built by the British to accommodate officers. It is these buildings that home the Archeological Museum.
As most of the Mughal belongings are in the British Museum, in this museum we have a very small fraction of Mughal property. There are four galleries, we very tired so we visited only one gallery. This gallery was dedicated to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The museum was good, and I am looking forward to visiting the Fort again so that I can have a proper look at the museums.
We went on Sunday, and it was crowded, I think it would be less crowded in weekdays, so plan your visit accordingly.
After this, we went to Nataraj Dahi Bhalla and had their scrumptious Tikki and Dahi Bhalla. It is on the way to the metro station, you can visit it to have their hot spicy Tikki and delicious Dahi Bhalla.
Overall, I was a little disappointed to see everything closed inside the complex, but I admire the beauty of architecture there. The vast complex with history and a beautiful market makes it a place worth a visit.
And with this we have come to the end of this post, I hope you will find it helpful. I will see you with the next post, till then keep celebrating life!
With Love,
Komal
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