The Naubat Khana, or Naqqar Khana is the drum house that stands at the entrance of the Red Fort in Delhi.
Musicians from the Naubat Khana would announce the arrival of the emperor and other dignitaries at the court of public audience (Diwan-i-Am). Music was also played five a times a day at chosen hours. Many Indian royal palaces have a drum house at the entrance.
The popular name of the gate, Hathiyan pol or 'elephant gate' derives from the tradition that visitors would dismount from their elephants at this point, before entering further into the inner fort complex.
The groundplan is rectangular. The structure consists of large, three storeys. The side towards the outside is white. The side towards the Diwan-i-Am is faced with red sandstone. The richly carved floral designs on its red sandstone walls appear to have been originally painted with gold. The interior was colourfully painted. Several layers of these paintings can be found at the entrance chamber.
Some historians believe that the later Mughal emperors Jahandar Shah (1712-13) and Farrukhsiyar (1713-19) were assasinated here.
Literature
- Koch, Ebba. 1991. Mughal Architecture. Munich: Prestel, 111.
- Mukherji, Anisha Shekhar. 2003. The red fort of Shahjahanabad. Delhi ; Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Tillotson, G.H.R. 1990. Mughal India. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 57-8.
External links
Media related to Naubat Khana (Red Fort) at Wikimedia Commons