Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0306Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a large group of men kneeling in prayer in front of a mosque. Above the image "T520 (Star)" is printed, below the image "V27412T Devout Mohammedans Prostrate at Prayer Time - Jama Masjid, India's Greatest Mosque, Delhi." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company Copyrighted, Underwood & Underwood, Inc. Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
V27412
MOHAMMEDANS AT PRAYER TIME - JAMA MASJID, DELHI, INDIA
That bulding at the left of the great court, with its pointed domes and the tall minaret (there is a similar tall tower farther to the left, beyond your range of vision) is the Mosque proper. It is filled with kneeling worshippers just as you see the courth. The large scalloped arch of the mosque entrance is in the middle of the facade and the building is symmetrically set in the courtyard, so even now you have not more than two-thirds of this outdoor congregation in sight.
The dark-colored parts of the mosque and the wall and that imposing gateway are of red sandstone, the lighter parts of white marble, and every slender tapering spire is covered with gold. A wall and colonnade, like those you see opposite, enclosed the other sides of the court; there is behind you a gate like the one you see, and, at your right, still another.
The oblong opening in the court there before the mosque door is the tank where all these followers of the Prophet have wahsed their hands before offering prayers in his name. The crowd is something exceptional ; it is the last day of the annual season of fast among good Mohammedans - a season commemorative of the retirement during which the wisdom of the Koran was revealed to the Prophet; it is observed in a manner roughly analogous to that of Lent, in Christian countries. During the month just ending, no food, no drink, no inhaling of tobacco-smoke or of any luxurious fragrance has been enjoyed in daylight hours by any of these men who are punctilious observers of Moslem rites. Only at night is it orthodox to eat or drink or smoke. The rule is necessarily relaxed for laborers.
Copyright by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection