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Moti Masjid (Red Fort)

Moti Masjid (Red Fort)

Photo: CC BY-SA 2.1 es · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Red Fort, Old Delhi, India
Client / Owner
Aurangzeb
Year
Completed 1663
Access
Private
Typology
Spiritual
Style
Mughal

The Moti Masjid is a 17th-century mosque inside the Red Fort in Old Delhi. Aurangzeb commissioned it shortly after his accession, at his own expense, so he would have a mosque for prayer near his private chambers. The article names no architect. Construction took five years and was completed in 1663. The court chronicle Ma'asir-i-Alamgiri gives the cost as 160,000 rupees.

The building is in the Mughal style, with three domes, white marble and red sandstone. It measures 30 by 49 feet (9 by 15 m) inside. Its prayer hall has three bays and two aisles, with corridors for the ladies of the court. The interior is known for floral marble reliefs, including a mihrab with vine motifs.

After the Siege of Delhi in 1857, British Prize Agents stripped its gilded copper domes and sold them. The British later replaced them in white marble. The Archaeological Survey of India has closed the mosque to visitors to prevent damage.

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