Red Fort Delhi India

One of the best places to visit in Delhi, built in red sans stone, Red Fort at Delhi is the most important historical monuments in India. It took almost 9 years to built the Red Fort. Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor after ruling from Agra for eleven years, decided to shift to Delhi and laid the foundation stone of the Red Fort in 1618. For its inauguration in 1647, the main halls of the palace were draped in rich tapestry and covered with silk from china and velvet brought in from Turkey. With a circumference of almost one and a half miles, the Red Fort Delhi is an irregular octagon and has two entrances, the Lahore and Delhi Gates.

The Diwan-e-Aam is the Red Fort's hall of public audience. Built of sandstone covered with shell plaster polished to look like ivory, the 80 x 40 feet hall is sub-divided by columns. The Mughal emperors would hold court here and meet dignitaries and foreign emissaries. The most imposing feature of the Diwan-e-Aam is the alcove in the back wall where the emperor sat in state on a richly carved and inlaid marble platform. In the recess behind the platform are fine examples of Italian pietra-dura work.

The piece de resistance of the fort, the Diwan-e-Khas was the hall of private audience. The most highly ornamented of all Shah Jahan's buildings, the 90 x 67 feet Diwan-e-Khas is a pavilion of white marble supported by intricately carved pillars. So enamoured was the emperor by the beauty of this pavilion that he engraved on it the following words: If there is paradise on the face of this earth, it is this, it is this."

Richly decorated with flowers of inlaid mosaic work of cornelian and other stones, the Diwan-e-Khas once housed the famous Peacock Throne, which when it was plundered by Nadir Shah in 1739, was valued at six million sterling.

The Sound n Light show, Son-et-Lumiere at Red Fort, Delhi - a 62 minute episode enthralls the audience and is an unforgettable experience. It recreates the history of Delhi combined with advanced audio visual effects. Not to be missed while you are in Delhi. One can see the 330 years long history which started from Mughal period till independence.

Show: Every day