Khirki Masjid
Khirki Masjid: About 2 kilometers northeast of Qutab Minar, located in the center of Khirki Village, is the unique Khirki Masjid or Mosque. It is just off the Press Enclave, and 2 kilometers south of Begumpuri Masjid. Khirki Mosque or the Window Mosque with Kalan Masjid is one among the only two examples of closed mosques in northern India.
The main feature of the mosque is its distinctive window opening with jalis or tracery known as khirki or latticed windows. Placed on the upper level of the mosque’s exterior wall, these jalis were preponderantly carved stone shields. The mosque as well as the nearby village got its name from this unparalleled feature. The mosque was built by Khan-I-Jahan, the prime minister of Feroz Shah Tughlaq in the late 14th century and is said to one of the seven mosques built by him.
Built on an elevated plinth with detritus stone, which were thickly plastered, the Khirki mosque is double storeyed and has a series of basement cells in the lower storey. All the four corners of the structure are occupied by imposing bastions making the mosque look like a fort. There are dwindling minarets on all the three gateways, except on the west, with the eastern gate being the main entrance. However, at present the southern gate is open for the visitors and the devotees.
The courtyard has pillars and is divided into 25 squares with five on each side. Each square is further divided into nine smaller squares. A cluster of nine small low domes made in the Tughlaq pattern covers the following larger squares - the center square of the courtyard with two on the corners, three on each side and one in the middle. The four diagonal squares are left uncovered, through which sunlight found its way to the inner sanctum of the mosque. The remaining squares are covered with flat roofs, thus making the mosque partly covered and partly uncovered. It is said that since Khan-I-Jahan used the mosque for his private worship, it was designed like this to beat the intense heat of the region.