Fatehpuri Masjid
Located at the western end of the oldest street of Delhi, Chandni Chowk, Fatehpuri Masjid was built in 1650 by Fatehpuri Begum, one of Shah Jahan’s wives. The mosque is built with red sandstone on a large scale and is surmounted by a single dome. Flanked by towering minarets, the mosque has a traditional design with the prayer hall having seven-arched openings. Among the seven arches, the central arch is the highest. The mosque has single and double-storeyed apartments on the sides and some of its endowments were used as a school for poor students. The British auctioned some parts of the mosque after the 1857 war to a Hindu family. Later in 1877 it was restored to the Muslims at the Delhi Darbar when the British allowed the Muslims back in Old Delhi.
Though Fatehpuri Masjid was an important mosque in Old Delhi but architecturally the mosque is not a very fine example of Mughal architecture. The materials used in the mosque are of poor quality. The proportion of the mosque is also not as perfect as that of the Jama Masjid. If one notices, the dome especially is not in proportion to the building and the overall effect is also not very pleasing. However, different parts of the mosque individually are very beautiful.
