Agra23 Mar 2012
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close truck encounters
horse ride to the Taj Mahal
Another beautiful red sandstone building at the Taj complex
| Today we toured Agra which is in Uttar Pradesh the same state as Varanasi (and one of India's poorest). We started with a tonga ride (horse drawn cart) to the Taj Mahal. It was completed in 1653, and built by the Mughal king Shah Jahan as the final resting place for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is made of white marble and looks the same from all four sides. Master craftsmen from Italy and Persian helped design the Taj and it took 22 years for 20,000 workers to build and needless to say a great deal of money. It has lovely carved screens and precious stone inlays. As we timed our visit for the morning it wasn't too crowded or hot. It is said that the streets of Agra could not have been very different to Casablanca or Cairo in the middle ages as much of the city still retains its Islamic character. But to us it also seemed that many of the inhabitants were living in the middle ages with so little modern day necessities ie sanitation, clean water and electricity. We also visited the Sikandra, the last resting place of the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great. The vast, beautifully carved, red-ochre sandstone tomb is set amidst a lush garden with deer and monkeys in the grounds. Akbar himself planned his own tomb and selected a suitable site for it. Emperor Akbar (who was king at 14), also had the Agra fort built in 1565AD, it is made of red sandstone and is similar to the Red Fort in Delhi but much better preserved. Its dry moat once had tigers and leopards in it and the water moat had crocodiles and snakes. The next day we also visited the deserted red sandstone city of Fatehpur Sikri. Which is 46 kms from Agra. The Emperor had it built as his capital and it once was a fairytale city complete with palaces and gardens and a mosque, until drought forced him back to Agra 40 years later. |
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