10 Interesting Facts about Red Fort Delhi, India- By: NEETA SHARMA

The Red Fort was the home of Mughal emperors for almost 200 years in India. It is famous tourist attraction and a must visit place in Delhi. It is a beautiful place which is possessed with magnificent past as well as rich culture. Among all the sightseeing sites in Delhi, there is one such monument which is with rich history and also serves as the ritual ground on the national events like Independence Day and Republic Day, the monument is Red Fort. Hence, here we are giving you 10 Interesting Facts about Red Fort Delhi, India that you may not know.

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1. Originally, the colour of Red Fort was not red only it was red and white in colour. According to Archaeological Survey of India, the various parts of building was made of limestone but after some years when white stone started chipping off it was repainted by red colour.

2. The initial name of Red Fort was Qila-e-Mubarak. It was build Shah Jahan decided to move his capital from Agra to Delhi.

3. The famous Red Fort get it name due to its boundary walls. The high boundary walls were constructed for increasing the security of royals living in it. British called it Red Fort as it was constructed in red stone and the locals translated it to the “Lal Qila”.

4. As there is a saying that Rome was not built in day, same applies for Red Fort also. It took long 10 years to construct Red Fort. The construction was started in the year 1638 and completed in 1648. The architectures of this famous building were Ustad Hamid and Ustad Ahmed and the construction was started on the day of Moharram.

5. Only few people know that the popular Kohinoor diamond was truly part of Shah Jahan's throne and was situated in Diwan-i-Khas (the hall of private audience). This throne was made up of solid gold and as well as studded with valuable stones. It was stolen by Nadir Shah and at present is a part of Royal Crown Collection of England (UK).

6. The Red Fort has two main gates namely the Delhi Gate and the Lahore Gate. The Lahore gate got its name due to its orientation towards Lahore because India and Pakistan used to be the same country at that time. Apart from this, there was also a water gate on the riverbank as it was meant for ensuring simple access to the river Yamuna.

7. The wonderful Red Fort is constructed in the octagonal shape as seen from bird's eye view. The outline of the surrounding red wall of the fort in fact looks like an octagon and is spread over 256 acres.

8. There are many palaces in Red Fort but one of the popular palace is known as “Rang Mahal” which means palace of colours. The Rang Mahall was housed the wives and mistresses of emeperor. It was named as such because it was brilliantly painted as well as decorated with an assortment of mirrors.

9. The Last Mughal emperor for occupying the fort, Bahadur Shah II became a sign of the 1857 revolt against the British. In spite of its position as the seat of Mughal power and its protective abilities, the Red Fort was not protected during the 1857 revolt against the British. Hence, after the failing of revolt, Bahadur Shah II left the fort and was detained by British forces.

10. The Prime Minister of India, every year on Independence Day (15 August) at Red Fort address people, gives speech as well as hoists the national flag. This custom has been ongoing ever since the first Independence Day of India. Moreover, The Red Fort has been named as a world heritage site in 2007 by UNESCO for its cultural and historical importance.