Delhi’s Red Fort was not originally red, why was its color changed?
Did you know that once upon a time, the color of Lalkilla was white? The Red Fort located in the capital Delhi, is the pride of India. This place is being graced with respect by both the President and the Prime Minister during Independence Day and Republic Day for hoisting the national flag. But, have you ever wondered that this fort which we now call red was, once upon a time, white? Today we are going to let you know who changed the color of the Red Fort from white.
Red Fort has always been the pride of Delhi and is situated in the capital city. Not only this, people from all corners of the country and even abroad come to the Red Fort for tourism. Surprisingly, this white stone monument was not originally made of red stone but was constructed using white stone by Shah Jahan.
Did you know that once upon a time, the color of Lalkilla was white? Do you know the Red Fort of Delhi was white? We are going to tell you something when it was built in the 17th century, Shah Jahan had made this fort white. It was a major part made of white limestone at that time, but later it was painted red by the British.
The construction of the Red Fort in Delhi was started by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1638. According to reports, its original form was made of white marble and lime. Therefore, the walls and buildings of the fort were white. Many parts of the fort were made of marble, which was a symbol of Mughal architecture of that time.
Why did the British change its color?
Let us inform you that following the First War of Independence in 1857, when the British acquired control of the fort after deposing the final Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, they made numerous alterations to its maintenance. During this period, the walls and structures constructed of white lime began to deteriorate. According to sources, throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the British made numerous efforts to preserve the Red Fort. However, the white lime walls began to deteriorate, so when rebuilding the fort, they painted it crimson. The reason behind doing this was that it would strengthen the walls and their color would not change due to different weather conditions. Let us tell you that red paint was also used at that time because red sandstone was a popular building material at that time.
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