Agra

My next stop was in Agra which is the home of the Taj Mahal. I will have a special post for the Taj Mahal, and this post will be about everything else I saw in Agra.

First, here is a wikipedia link to learn more about Agra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra

 

My first stop was at the Fatehpur Sikri which is a fort 35 km from Agra. This fort was abandoned by Mughal Emperor Akbar due to a lack of water, and his headquarters moved into Agra Fort.

Below is the Diwan-i-Khas, which is a hall for private audiences. The fort's time frame is during the 1500's. So, the architecture is simpler  than later structures.

 

Inside the audience hall.

 

Here is a close up of some of the carvings.

 

The couple below are renewing their wedding vows.

 

Here is a pic of the panchmahal.

 

This is the main courtyard.

 

The fort is on a small hill overlooking a valley which is mainly farm lands.

 

The entrance to the fort. On the left of the pic below there is a person sitting on a small landing. Even though Agra Fort is bigger wither later architecture, the Sikri was not small.

 

After I visited this fort, I went to the Akbar Tomb. The tome is in the white marble building, and next to it is a temple.

 

Akbar's tomb is very simple, but still done in marble.

 

The pic below is a sheet of marble with a carved pattern etched out of it.

The temple itself was very big.

 

Inside the temple there were some other tombs.

 

My next location was at a marble inlay shop. They took semi-precious stones, and ground them on a grinding wheel to create a number of mosaic designs etched out of the marble. For example a leaf on a flower. Some of these manufactured items were as small as a pin which required a very high level of sensitivity during the creation of the item.

 

 

This close up shows just how small and intricate these individual pieces become. The white part is the marble, and every piece is hand crafted on a grinding wheel using the appropriate colored semi-precious stone.

 

Here is a reproduction of the Taj Mahal done with inlay. For those who are interested in this type of product, you can visit Akbar International which has a  website at www.akbarinternational.com

 

My next stop was at the Taj Mahal during sunset, but I'm leaving that for it own post. In the morning, I vistited Agra Fort. There is a couple on the left which will shows the relative size of the entrance.

 

There are a few inner courtyards with rooms and offices where business took place back in the 1600's.

 

 

Here is the main courtyard where the ruler made final judgements. There is a marble building in the center of the picture below where the ruler would sit.

 

 

 

 

The fort over looks the river, and on a clear day you can see the Taj Mahal.

 

Due to the fog in the morning, these birds were having a hard time seeing the Taj Mahal from the fort. They took some time to pose for the camera before flying off toward the Taj Mahal to see it during the sunrise.