Khirki Mosque

Khirki Mosque

➥Archaeological Survey of India (Delhi Circle)  has discovered a hoard of 254 Copper Coins in the premises of Khirki Mosque during the course of conservation of the monument.

➥The Archaeology Survey of India (ASI), under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological researches and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation. It was set up in 1861 by Sir Alexander Cunningham w/help of then Viceroy Canning with primary object of surveying antiquarian remains in this country & their study.

Khirki Mosque

⧪Khirki Mosque⧪

• This mosque lies on the southern periphery of the village khirki, New  Delhi.
• The mosque was built by khan-i-jahan shah , the Prime Minister of Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351-88) and is believed to be one of the seven mosque built by him.
• Built with rubble stone, the Khirki Mosque is double-storeyed.
• The lower storey consists only of a series of basement cells.
• Untidy bastions occupy its four corners, imparting it the look of a fort field building.
• The gateways of three sides, except on the west, are edged by narrowed minarets: the main entance is from the east.
• Corresponding with the openings of cells on the lower storey, the upper storey contains holed windows (khirkis), which have given it its present name.
• The pillared courtyard is divided into twenty-five squares, five on each side, each square consisting of nine smaller squares.
• The larger squares, together with the square in the centre of the courtyard, are each covered with a cluster of nine small low domes.
• Among the remaining squares, four on the diagonals are left uncovered to admit light, while the others are covered with flat roofs.
• This ingenious way of covering the courtyard is repeated only in one other mosque erected by the same builder. These two are the only examples of closed mosque in northern India.