Jama Masjid is the biggest Friday Mosque in India and it is impressive with its breathtaking architecture with its grand white cuples, delicate patterned murals and huge gates .The builder is said to be the son of the builder of Taj Mahal. In the courtyard in front of the mosque, there is a palladium for an extra muballigh (prayer leader) so it was possible to reach all 25.000 prayers on Fridays, before the loud speakers were invented.
The most enjoyable and authentic thing we have experienced so far here was the low-tech cycle-rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk bazar from the new high-tech underground metro to Jama Masjid. The ride gave us front-row view to a spectacle of people, halal butchers, card sellers, handicraft men, numerous small shops and stalls, tourists, motorcycles and of cause cycle-rickshaws, all in narrow lanes making it impossible to proceed more than a few meters in walking pace without stops.
The number of cycle-rickshaws seemed greater than the number of people in the streets, which was best illustrated in a congested crossing where everything stopped for minutes resulting in arguments between the trimmed and in our case tiny rider. No worry about diabetes for these guys!
This is our rickshaw driver in action. We wondered how he could keep smiling with the two of us to drag around. He was maybe 150 cm tall and his weight must have been less that 45 kg. Pure muscles!
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