Welcome To Agra

Taj Mahal

As promised here is the blog post on Agra. “Taj Mahal”, one of the seven wonders of the world, can be seen above. I will write another post on just this beautiful piece of architecture, soon.

You might remember I went to Agra last November along with Delhi and Haridwar. If you don’t then please click here for the post on Delhi and here for the one on Haridwar.

Now let me give you a brief account of our trip in and around Agra. On the 7th of November, 2015 we reached Agra at about 8 o’clock in the morning. There are 5 railway stations in Agra. We disembarked at Agra Cantonment railway station. It is the main station in Agra.

Agra Cantt. Station

We quickly went to our hotel and after unpacking got out to visit the Taj Mahal. As I have said earlier I will write up soon about my experience there.

We spent nearly 4 hours at Taj. We could have watched it forever. At about 1:00pm we finally got out. We were very hungry by then. We took a Tanga (Horse drawn carriage) to a eatery. This Tanga ride was highly anticipated. Ever since I saw Feluda, Topshe and Jotayu riding in a tanga at Agra in ‘Golapi Mukta Rahasya’ telefilm I always dreamed of riding this one day. For people who are not familiar with Feluda and co. you can follow this link and find out.

Old and new

The above picture shows how the transport system has changed over the years. Earlier Tangas ruled the roads. Nowadays cars have taken their place.

We had our share of food and visited the Agra Fort.

Agra Fort

Agra Fort was built by the Mughals. Emperor Akbar made Agra his capital and moved to Agra Fort in 1558. Legend holds that Shah Jahan was imprisoned inside the fort by his son Aurangzeb and he died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony which overlooks a view of the Taj Mahal.

View from Muasamman Burj

Below you can see the Diwan-i-am, or the Hall of public audience where the emperor addressed the general public as well as the nobility.

Diwan-i-am

A lot of squirrels are found inside the fort. I particularly like this frame below.

Squirrels

The day ended. The next day we visited Fatehpur Sikri, founded in 1569 by Akbar. It served as the capital of the Mughal empire for a short span of 14 years, from 1571-85.

Entrance to Fatehpur Sikri

The main entrance to the palace is Buland Darwaza. It is the highest gateway in the world measuring a staggering 50 metres from the ground.

Buland Darwaza

Below you can see the white marble tomb of the Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Beside it you can see the red sandstone tomb of Islam Khan I, grandson of the saint. The tomb is topped by a dome and thirty-six small domed chattris.