Agra and Fatehpur Sikri

So I finally made it to the Taj Mahal four weeks into my second visit to India. It's huge, impressive, and beautiful, but for me was cer
tainly anti-climatic. I really enjoyed visiting it, but after all the hype about it being so amazing and this great testament tolove it didn't quite live up to my personal expectations for it.

It is certainly an interesting exercise in symmetry. For example, on one side of the Taj Mahal there is a mosque and on the other is an identical building that is there to ensure symmetry. Interestingly enough the only thing that is not symmetrical in the entire complex are the cenotaphs in the center of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal for his favorite wife and her cenotaph is exactly in the middle of the building. Years later, when Shah Jahan died, his usurping son had him buried beside his beloved wife, thus destroying the symmetry.

As in Agra is the Agra Fort, where Shan Jahan lived out his final eight years, as the prisoner of his son. Agra Fort is still used as a fort by Indian military forces so much of it is off limits for visitors. However, it is possible to visit the old palaces within the fort. The palaces are extensive and beautiful. The fort is situated down the river from the Taj Mahal so it is possible to see it from the river side of the fort. This is said to have been Shah Jahan's sole consolation during his imprisonment. There are also huge buildings to house the harem and the largest bathtub I have ever seen. The fort is mostly made of red sandstone, but the buildings where Shah Jahan lived while imprisoned are made of white marble - clearly his favorite building material.

My favorite part of the day was visiting Fatehpur Sikir. Fatehpur Sikri is about 40km away from Agra and is the location of the capital of the Mughal Empire, under Emperor Akbar, from 1571 to 1585 when it was abandoned due to a lack of water. The capital was moved here in honor of Sufi saint Saikh Salim Chisti, who had predicted that Akbar would finally have a son on one of Akbar's pilgrimages to visit the saint.

The complex of audience halls, palaces, and a mosque are all made of red sandstone. The work is absolutely exquisite. The complex is in the Persian style and took 15 years to plan and build - one year longer than it was actually used as the capital. Among the buildings are the Diwan-i-Am, the public audience hall, and the Diwan-i-Khas, the private audience hall.

There is also the Panch Mahal, Akbar's residence.

There were also three palaces, one each for Akbar's Muslim, Christian, and Hindu wives. His Hindu wife was his favorite and the one who bore the foreseen son. On the left is part of the Christian wife's palace, and on the right is the Hindu wife's.

Just outside the walls of the palace is the Fatehpur Sikri Jama Masjid. It is home to a shrine to the Sufi saint Shaik Salim Chisti. It also has, according to our guide the highest arch in Asia. It's a pretty stunning complex. We enjoyed our visit largely because at the last Jama Masjid we visited we were rudely kicked out after being required to pay an entrance fee. Neither of those things happened here.

The shrine is the white marble building in the background. Here are two photos of the arch. One from outside. It was so big it was difficult to get in one photo, especially on burning hot stones. Next there's a photo of me my co-intern Melanie with the inside of the arch behind us.