The Wall Mosque is located just west of the South Gate, along the garden's southern enclosure wall. It is estimated to have been built in the 19th century.1 A masjid, or mosque, is a location where Muslims meet for prayer. The only common feature of a mosque is that it has some indication to the qibla direction, usually a mihrab, sometimes just a grid on the ground. "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'All the earth is a mosque, except for graveyards and Hammam.'"2
The Wall Mosque is just a blue quartzite masonry prayer platform that measures 13.20m x 9.40m with stairs at the eastern end and a qibla wall at the western end.3 The qibla wall contains a large pointed arch niche hat measures 2.25m wide, and this niche has a 1m wide three-centered arched opening at each side.4 This prayer platform is approximately 1.3m high with a small unidentified cenotaph in the southeastern corner. There is a small entrance in line with the cenotaph on the eastern side of the prayer platform that allows access to a space inside the platform that could be assumed to be a crypt.
1. Ataullah, "Survey of 18th Century Structural Remains Of New Delhi Zone," Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 65, (2004): 1171.
2. Sunan Ibn Majah 745.
3. Ataullah, "Survey 18th Century Structural Remains," 1171.
4. ibid.
Burton-Page, John. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Vol. 20, Indian Islamic Architecture: Forms and Typologies, Sites and Monuments. Leiden; Boston: E.J. Brill, 2008.
