Why always RED FORT

“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom…” 

This historic speech marked India’s independence from British rule and at the same time made the Red Fort in Delhi a politically important monument that currently acts as the setting for the Independence Day celebrations annually. However, the Red Fort has been a strategically important monument through the ages, because of Delhi being the capital city for a good part of the Mughal rule in India.

Why does the Indian Prime Minister need to give his annual Independence Day speech from the Red Fort in Delhi? you'll say, well, it's always been so. The first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, did it, and then has each Prime Minister after him.

PM Jawaharlal Nehru addresses the nation from Red Fort on Independence Day, 15 August 1947

Independence Day celebration at Red Fort in Delhi is a very important ritual that has been happening every year since Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the Indian tricolor a day before India gained independence on August 15, 1947

On August 14, 1947, the Union Jack flag that flew high for hundreds of years over the Red Fort in New Delhi, British India came down. two days later, independent India’s 1st Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, hoisted the Indian tricolor of saffron, white and green. He began his speech in Hindi, marking the beginning of a tradition that continues to the present day. Every year, on the eve of India’s independence from British Empire, the Prime Minister stands on the ramparts of the 17th-century Red Fort, a protected UNESCO Heritage site, and gives a rousing speech.

The Independence Day celebration at Red Fort marks the beginning of celebrations across India. All over else around the country, you'll find communities, schools, towns and cities hoisting the Indian flag in the morning and singing patriotic songs, similar to what happens at the fort.

Because our first Prime Minister Dr. Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation for the first time after independence from Red Fort, so this tradition was followed by the successive prime ministers who is still going on.

Few things about RED FORT

Ø  Kohinoor diamond was once a part of its furniture!

Ø  It was originally known as Qila-e-Mubarak - meaned "The blessed fort".

Ø  The main architects of this monument were Ustad Ahmad and Ustad Hamid.

Ø  It's made out of red sandstone, which means it wasn't painted by the British - which is a well known rumor today.

Ø  The ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) has found traces of Mughal lime plaster (mixture of lime, gum, and bael fruit and marble dust) on some parts of the fort.

Ø  It was built within a span of 8 years.

Ø  The shape of this fort is octagon and it covers 256 acres of land.

Ø  On 7 October, 1858 with the end of the Mughal reign, the British gave official sanctions to remove and sell valuables from the palace at the Red Fort. In 1863, British destroyed many buildings inside and outside the fort, filled up the gardens, stripped the fort of any valuable items and reduced the fort to just a military structure.

Ø  UNESCO is responsible for maintaining and renovating the old structure, considered to be a very important part of the history.

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