Rutwikchandraco

  This morning we headed over to the Red Fort to have a look around. Built from red sandstone between 1638 and 1648 by Shah Jahan (same man who built the Taj Mahal) to protect his new city of ShahJahanabad (ie Delhi) this magnificent fort was later converted into barracks by the British. Unfortunately it has been ransacked multiple times over its history and so the semi-precious stones that inlaid the marble halls have all gone, as have the gold and silver ceilings, copper doors & fittings and the ornate Peacock Throne. Today is a bank holiday in Delhi and so the crowds were huge (they got much bigger by the time we left). Slightly strangely tourists don’t have to queue and after buying a ticket at the separate tourist counter you can walk past the long line of locals and walk straight in. I have to admit this made Stephen and I feel a little uncomfortable - in other places they’ve had separate entrances or lines for tourists so we haven’t felt quite so much like we’re jumping ...