The Red Fort is the major attraction of the day, according to our plan, and we start from the parking area. We can buy tickets here but it is still a long walk to the actual entrance. And here we have our first encounter with what will become the scourge of our visit, peddlers and guides and beggars all vying for our attention. They are following you, shouting at you and even grabing you making the visit much less enjoyable as you cannot look or rest in peace as someone will come to bother you for this or that. Nevertheless it is an impressive castle and a large one too as we soon learn.
We walk the full length of of the perimeter it seems and we feel like an invading army trying to find an entrance so we can finally try to invade the castle. And we can stop only when there is no one close to bother us which is almost never.
At the entrance we go through tight security but luckily there is no significant queue and soon we are in front of the impressive Lahori Gate, the entrance to the Red Fort. The Red Fort was commissioned in May 1639, when Shah Jahan decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi and was the capital of the Mughal Empire till it was conquered by the British.
At the entrance is the Chhatta Chowk, the Covered Bazaar, a very busy and crowded area with many stores but few that were actually selling something interesting. Also it was almost impossible to visit them in the flow of people so we pass them this time and hope for a better shopping area later.
There is an open area in the middle that provides us a breather before we pass through the second half of the bazaar and exit near the British barracks, one of their strongholds during the occupation of India.
Now they are used as a museum to show the resistance of the Indian people against the occupation and the lengths that the British took in order to keep them under control including firing the cannons on people tied to them….brutal.
There were other punishments too that did not involve death including sending them to hot climates and dressing them in clothes that were completely unsuited and made them suffer daily while laboring in the fields.
After the museum we search a bit for the restrooms, which suprisingly are free, and then continue on exploring the walls, temples and buildings along the way.
We even find a baoli, step well, but it is fenced off which is actually a theme here. We try to go Salim Garh Fort but a guard stops us…it is closed. Then we go to the stamp museum… it is closed. So we decide to go to the more historical section of the fort hoping that more buildings are open there.
The historical section is in Hayat Baksh Bagh, which means Life-bestowing garden the largest garden in Red Fort. We start with the Sawan pavilion (mandap) the first of two almost identical structures facing on opposite ends of the canal. They are carved out of white marble with a section of the wall with niches. Originally small oil lamps would be lit and placed in these niches at night, or vases with golden flowers be placed during the day. The water from the channel would cascade over it, creating the impression of a curtain.
Next is Zafar Mahal which was constructed during the reign of Bahadur Shah II in 1842 and named after him. This pavilion stands in the middle of a pre-existing water tank which is empty now for years likely. It is made out of red sandstone, which was cheaper than white marble, money being in short supply for the Mughal Emperor. It was then destroyed by the British who used the pool as a swimming pool.
The Shahi Burj, Emperor’s Tower in Urdu, is our next goal. It is barely visible now but it was a three story octagonal tower through which the water feeding from the river was channeled into various other buildings of the fort. Now the pavilion next to it is more impressive even though it cannot be visited either unfortunately.
Following the eastern wall we reach Hira Mahal a pavilion built also in 1842. It is quite simply decorated, with reliefs but no inlay work. It is also next to Moti Masjid, the Pearl Mosque, a 17th-century mosque built by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, damaged by the Siege of Delhi, and subsequently restored by the British. It cannot be entered so we admire it from the outside before moving on.
Next to the Pearl Mosque is the Hammam that cannot be entered either. In fact lots of the buildings and attractions are closed or cannot be visited which is a bit annoying but at least we can see them from a distance. And then we get to one major attraction in the Red Fort the Diwan-i-Khas, the hall of audiences built in 1648.
Inside it is quite beautiful, even though unfortunately again we cannot walk through it and must look at it from afar. The interior as beautiful as it is was completely plundered following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 with the throne, carpets, and other items going missing so it is just a shell of how it was durings its heyday.
The ceiling, which was originally inlaid with silver and gold, was stripped bare by successive financial crises of the empire by the Jats or Marathas with the current ceiling being installed in 1911. The only inlays we observe during the visit are the beautiful flowers inlayed into the marble, they are quite special.
The next pavilion, Rang Mahal is the only one you can enter and walk through the rooms and explore in more depth. It was the part of the palace in which female members of the royal family could rest at.
We explore as much as we can under the watchful eyes of the guard enjoying the beautiful decorations that are still remaining even though it was used by the British as a mess for while.
Returning towards the gate we discover Diwan-i-Am the Hall of Public Audiences where the emperor received members of the general public and heard their grievances. To our surprise you can walk through it and explore everything except the throne which is protected against the birds and people (we assume) by wire netting.
And then before the entrance we find Naubat Khana, another impressive building. It is called Drum House because musicians from the Naubat Khana would announce the arrival of the emperor and other dignitaries at the court of public audience. It has an additional name, Elephant Gate, because tradition says that everyone except princes of the royal blood had to dismount from their elephants at this point, before entering further into the inner fort complex. And then it is time to exit the fort and walk towards the Old Town our next goal for the day.
