jama-masjid

OUR CORRESPONDENT / NEW DELHI

Frank-W. SteinmeierGerman President Frank-Walter Steinmeier who is visiting India on March 22 is likely to visit Delhi historic Jama Masjid, sources said.

Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in India, with a courtyard capable of holding 25,000 devotees. It was begun in 1644 and ended up being the final architectural extravagance of Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.

Jama Masjid The highly decorative mosque has three great gates, four towers and two 40 m-high minarets constructed of strips of red sandstone and white marble. Travellers can hire robes at the northern gate. This may be the only time you get to dress like a local without feeling like an outsider so make the most of it.

German President visit is the first major outreach from Germany after the new government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel was sworn in on March 14.

“This will be his first visit to India as the President of Germany. The German President will be accompanied by a CEO delegation, Indologists, and a media delegation,” said the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday.

The dignitary will visit between March 22 and 25. Mr. Steinmeier will also attend programmes in Varanasi and Chennai. The visit to Varanasi is likely to be focussed on India-Germany cooperation on cleaning the river Ganga.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and GIZ Germany signed an Implementation Agreement for Ganga Rejuvenation on April 13, 2016 under which Germany committed €3 million for data management and capacity building to deal with the pollution of the greatest river of India.

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