July 28th to July 29th –Fatehpur Sikri and Agra

Departing from Jaipur on Monday morning, we left for Agra. On our way, however, we visited a huge palace located an hour and a half from Agra, known as Fatehpur Sikri. This served as a former palace for Akbar, one of the most powerful Mughal emperors. Made entirely of red sandstone, the palace was intriguing as it not only had a temple, but also a mosque and a church and the maharaja had three wives, each from a different religion. The red sandstone was in use due to its local availability and lower cost. The palace complex also had a large area devoted as a hall for public audiences. This area, opening onto a large courtyard, allowed the emperor to meet with people and address loud crowds. Large areas in the palace were used for bathing pools, filled using rainwater.  The other huge area of the complex was a huge red sandstone mosque known as the Jama Masjid. Overlooking the surrounding city, the mosque stands huge at the top of a hill. While we were visiting, it was still Ramadan, so the surrounding area near the mosque was filled with celebrating people and the mosque itself was filled with people praying. After visiting the mosque we continued on to Agra.

Waking up early on Tuesday morning, which was also Eid the day marking the end of Ramadan, we left to visit the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Despite visiting it before, it was amazing to see once again. Called Taj Mahal or Crown Palace, it was built as a mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. While visually stunning, one of the most intriguing aspects of the Taj Mahal is the symmetry of the complex. Both the gardens and the main mausoleum itself are completely balanced, with a small canal going straight from the main gate to the palace on which the entire complex is mirrored and symmetrical. While in my previous visit it was midday and the palace was gleaming white, as the light was low in the morning the color of the building was almost brown. As well as the Taj Mahal, we also visited a building known as the Baby Taj, a similar construction built by a relative of Shah Jahan that heavily influenced the design of the Taj Mahal. While the construction style during the Mughal time was using the red sandstone that was used at Fatehpur Sikri, this building was the first to use the white marble design with a semi-precious inlay. The other location that we visited in Agra was Agra fort. Used by the British during their colonial period and still partially in use today, this building served as the military base and the palace of the government in Agra. This also served as the prison for Shah Jahan in his later years. After becoming obsessed by building this tomb for his wife, the emperor’s son imprisoned him, as both a chance to gain power for himself, and to prevent him from wasting all of the empire’s funds on building this complex. While the building complex was huge and costly, there was an entire mirror complex planned across the river from the Taj Mahal to serve as Shah Jahan’s burial site. The Agra fort itself was fairly restricted, with only a small amount of access, but one intriguing area was the bedrooms for the two granddaughters of Shah Jahan. While one had an elaborate marble palace with delicate inlay, the other younger daughter had a mirroring palace made simply of white painted stone.