Visit to Jamma Masjid and St. James Church Class V
21st February, 2018

Our Trip to Jama Masjid and St. James Church

The excited Class 5 and 6 visited the Jama Masjid and St James Church in two groups over a course of two days. Our first visit was to the Jama Masjid for which we had to cover our heads with scarves and remove our shoes. We were anticipating lots of fun along with great learning on places of worship of different faiths. We started with a brief talk on how Shah Jahan built the Red Fort on a hill and Jama Masjid on its neighboring hill and named the town Shahjahanabad. It was followed by the history of Jama Masjid. It was an engaging talk. Then it was time for a tour of the Masjid. We split into two groups and saw the towering Minars, the huge Gumbad and the arches that had an odd number of waves. Then we saw three gates, one through which the locals used to come, second for the merchants and third for Emperor Shah Jahan. Next we saw the Wazoo tank where the ablution is performed and finally we went to the area where Namaz is offered facing the holy city of Mecca which for people in India is towards the West.
We wore our shoes and got on to the bus for St. James Church. We took off our shoes again upon reaching the Church and sat on the bench called Pew. For a while, we were allowed to read the books in front of us. Then we were told how and why the Church was built by Colonel James Skinner. He wanted to join the British Army but could not because he was half Rajput. He made his own private army that one had to have on their side to win. Once he got gravely injured in battle and prayed to the Lord that if he could live on he would build a church in North India as there were none. An old woman heard his cries and let him recover at her house. He went on to live and therefore built the Church as he had promised. He wanted that when he died, he should be buried in a place where everyone could walk over him. He died in Hansi and was buried there. Later he was moved to St. James Church. We saw his grave there.
To end our trip we played a little game. We got a card each and were told to make a border around it ,related to the word written on it. On the back of the page we had to write another word related to the given word. Then we had to hang it on the correct string. The options were – Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism. After this we thanked the organisers from Itihaas and headed back to school.
Inika Gour Tirath V- B