As we parked our car in Red Fort parking lot, we noticed this little Mosque across the road. Beautiful architecture surrounded by green trees in Old Delhi. I along with my friend thought of going closer to find out about the place and found a gentleman sitting on the stairs to shared about Shahi Sunahari Masjid and then he pointed us to the board which had more details about the Masjid.
The mosque has three domes, which were originally gilt with copper from which it derives its name. The mosque has a main prayer hall and two minarets. The central arch of the mosque bears an inscription about the builder of the mosque and date of its construction. In 1852, Bahadur Shah II had the mosque repaired and replaced the copper plates of the domes with sandstone facing.
The Sunehri Masjid (Mosque) was constructed during 1750s by the order of Qudsia Begum for Nawab Bahadur Javed Khan. Javed Khan was the supervisor of the harem and was in great favour with the begum and therefore was very influential. He was later assassinated. The Sunehri Masjid is made of bassee jung, a light salmon-colored stone not usually used for building mosques.
Nawab Ahmad Bakhsh Khan, father of the Nawab of Firozpur, repaired the mosque to benefit the neighborhood. Not long after its renovation, Nawab Ahmad Bakhsh Khan was attacked by an infuriated elephant while out with his son. His horse was killed in the attack, and his vehicle was destroyed. The Nawab and his son were only saved from death by taking refuge inside this mosque.
Delhi has lot of such hidden hertitage sites and I am happy that some young groups are helping people discover and know about these.
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