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Zeenat-ul Mosque?

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Zeenat-ul Mosque?

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A little-known Mughal Masjid

So far, a lot has been written about well-known Mughal Masjids. Wanderer takes you to one you may not have heard of. Zinat鈥檜l Masjid, lying along the walls of Shahjahanabad in Daryaganj was built in 1710, more than half a century after the Jama Masjid, which it resembles a lot, was built.It was built by Zinat-ul-Nissa, daughter of Shahjahan who is believed to have been eloquent in Persian poetry. During the time the masjid was built Daryaganj was known to be a posh place and that is perhaps why she decided to make that the venue of the masjid.

The masjid is built on a raised platform of basement chambers and the mosque consists of a spacious courtyard. As in the case of Jama Masjid, it is mostly built of sandstone and has three striped marble domes surmounting its prayer hall. The screen in front is faced by seven arches against the 11 in Jama Masjid.Tall minarets flank this screen of cusped arches. The mosque is on a much smaller scale and largely free of lawns and gardens which was a typical feature of the Mughal structures.It is not clear why this is so, but there is a view that there could have been very little space since there were a large number of residential houses and markets in the Daryaganj area that time.Unlike a large number of other mosques and also the Jama Masjid, the thin delicate stripes are replaced her by bold ones on the tombs.This is something striking untypical of the Mughal style of architecture.But perhaps, the princess thought that she must do something from the ordinary. It would be well worth mentioning that there is hardly any contrast in the various mosques as one moves around the capital.And very often one feels that one is getting the same fare over and over again. In this context it wouuld be well worth mentioning that basic features that all mosques sport.

All of them for instance have a Qibla wall which is the most esential part of the mosque and forms the back wall of the sanctuary.When the worshipper sits facing it, he is facing Mecca.The wall usually has a number of arches called mihrabs which provide a focus for the worshippers.The space in front of the wall when covered, forms a liwan and there is also a courtyard to accommodate a large number of devotees.Normally the qibla wall and the mihrabs are not visible when one comes to pray, there is an arched screen in front of the sanctuary usually with a high central arch called the iwan and a minar at either end.This screen forms the focal point for the prayers.And normally what differentiates one mosque from the other are the shapes of the domes and arches and surface decorations. Zinat-ul mosque is not a very popular place today for offering prayers when compared to the Jama Masjid.One of the reasons could be the lack of maintenance that has left the basement too dirty. Apart from that, the sandstone around the mosque has been painted red losing the original beauty and pristine glory that is associated with the mosques of the Mughal era.

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