Jama Masjid, Lucknow

About Jama Masjid

The famous Jama Masjid, built in 1839 by Nawab Mohammad Ali Shah Bahadur, is one of the oldest historical sites in Lucknow. Apart from being a popular tourist destination, it also serves as an important religious center in Lucknow for the Muslim community.

Despite being built on a low budget, Jama Masjid has an unmatched charm. Inside the mosque, there is a prayer hall which is rectangular in shape and has a graceful façade of eleven arches located on the west.

Architecture of Jama Masjid

Jama Masjid is considered to be the best mosque built during the Mughal Empire. Built using red sandstone and white marble in the Indo-Islamic style of architecture, it is approximately 261 feet long and 90 feet wide.

The structure is adorned with three huge arched gates, three marble domes, four minarets and two huge minarets.

Interesting facts about Jama Masjid

1. The mosque is one of the last area marvels designed by Shah Jahan.
2. The construction of this mosque was started by Mohammad Ali Shah, the third emperor of Awadh, with the intention of surpassing the Jama Masjid in Delhi in size, but after his death his wife Rani Malika Jahan Sahiba completed the mosque.
3. Year 1845. Built of "Lakhori" bricks and plated with lime, it is decorated with colorful plaster motifs.
4. Standing on a high square plinth, it has a rectangular prayer hall, to the west of which is a magnificent façade of eleven arches.
5. The central one is elevated and is provided with an unusually high doorway that rises above the ceiling in a sharp pointed arch decorated in colored plaster.
6. The prayer hall is surrounded by three pear-shaped high double domes decorated with an inverted lotus at the top and two octagonal four-storey slender minarets on either side, crowned by "chhatris" at the top.

How to reach Jama Masjid