Khirkee Masjid
¤ The Construction
The Khirkee mosque was built by Khan-i-jahan Junan Shah the prime
minister of Feroze Shah Tughlaq in 1380. The mosque gets its name from
its exquisite windows or khirkees.
Gordon Risley Hearn in his The Seven Cities of Delhi (1906) after
describing the mosque as 'a very fine one' says:
In plan it is square and within the encircling wall there is a
colonnade; but the interior, instead of being left open, as
other mosques of the time were, has arcades in the shape of a cross;
four courts are thus left open… the windows in the outer
walls are closed by heavy sand stone grilles… (the)
mosque is well worthy of inspection…
¤ The Great Interior Work
The inner courtyards, which attracted the attention of Hearn, are
indeed very fascinating for an architecture and history student. Two
covered passages go across it and intersect each other, bang in the
middle, at right angles and so the courtyard is divided into four
squares. The roof is supported by massive monolithic columns, which
were typical of this period. The gateways and prayer niche are flanked
by sloping towers.
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