Travel Day with Stops: Week 6 / Day 39 / Feb 18

Posted February 22, 2019 by davehartsough

Agra, India: Feeling pretty worn out from being sick, I hopped into the taxi I had arranged for the 6 hr ride to Agra. I had originally planned to travel by train, but multiple postings online made the point that a taxi is not very expensive and affords the opportunity to stop at Abhaneri for a large stepwell and at Fatehpur Sikri, a former capital of the Mughal Empire. Given my current state, I am glad to limit exposure to others and infecting them.

Partway through our drive we stopped at Abhaneri to see the Chand Baori stepwell.

Begun as far back as the 8th century, this step well is 13 stories deep, making it one of the largest and oldest in India. The upper levels were built more recently during the 18th century.

This location is also said to have served as the inspiration for “the Pit” in the movie The Dark Knight Rises.

Laying about the upper level of the stepwell were a number of carved monuments.

Following the brief visit to the stepwell, we headed back out on the road towards Agra. After a few more hours of driving we arrived at Fatehpur Sikri.

Fatehpur Sikri was built as a capital city for the Mughal Empire by Emperor Akbar. Although a city had preceded it at this location by 1,000 years, Fatehpur Sikri was intended to be a great city. However, its greatness was short lived with Akbar and his court abandoning the city after only 14 years due to water shortages and distractions from military campaigns.

Built partly as a monument to his son, Akbar had been childless until 1569. Although he had three wives (one Christian, one Hindu, and one Muslim – I bet holiday discussions at that dinner table were a hoot!), he had not yet produced an heir (I’m thinking there may have been a common thread in the problem here, and it was not the women). Prior to the first pregnancy for one of his wives, Akbar had met with the Sufi Mystic Sheikh Salim. Sheikh Salim had blessed Akbar and told him that he would have a son. When a son was produced, Akbar decided to build a monument and city where Sheikh Salim practiced – the city of Sikri.

Upon entering the capital city one sees the Hall of Public Audience or Dawan-i-Aam that we have encountered elsewhere.

An unusual feature of this courtyard is the large stone ring in the ground shown in the third picture. This ring was used to tether a favorite elephant of Emperor Akbar. This elephant’s primary function was to stand on the chests of those condemned to death and crush them in the courtyard.

Moving further into the palace grounds we encounter the Hall of Private Audience or Diwan-i-Khas.

Here Akbar would sit atop the central column shown, with his ministers arrayed out at the ends of the walkways leading to his perch. From this building he could also see the memorial tower he built in honor of his favorite, death-wielding pachyderm.

Further into the courtyard were buildings that housed women of the royal court, other meeting spaces, and open gardens. Each of these buildings contain intact examples of the sandstone artistry that is so damaged elsewhere.

At the far end of this courtyard is the building in which Emperor Akbar slept. Shown below is the platform that held his bed.

Each of the wives also had their own homes and worship locations. I visited the home of the Christian wife first.

Shown are the entrance to her home, paintings on the sandstone wall and ceiling, and the small chapel built for her.

Similarly, the Muslim wife had a small building in which she lived that had a prayer area attached.

Finally, the Hindu wife had living quarters as well.

Beyond this entrance was a large courtyard containing summer and winter living quarters and a Hindu Temple.

See if you can guess which wife had the kid.

Leaving the palace grounds I then headed back towards the Jama Masjid (or mosque). The Jama Masjid is dominated by a large gate at the southern entrance, the Buland Darwaza.

Walking along the walls of the Jama Masjid I first headed towards the north end containing a small cemetery.

Also located at this end, is the entrance to a tunnel that runs the 40 km to the city of Agra. This was to be used as an escape plan if needed by the Emperor’s family.

Located nearby is the tomb of the Sufi Sheikh Salim.

Although I was allowed to enter the tomb, photography is not allowed within the inner chamber. Which is a shame, because the pearlescent stone work on the tomb itself is incredible. However, it is allowed to photograph from within the building, just not within the innermost chamber.

From here we can see the beautiful calligraphic work done on the walls of the tomb. Looking to the outside we get to see the stone screens that surround the building.

Each of these screens was carved from a single piece of marble with no joints or binding of pieces. Also, each screen is unique, with each employing a different pattern.

At the east end of the complex is the mihrab indicating the direction of Mecca.

In each direction to the right and left are multiple arches dividing this end of the complex into multiple chambers

Finally, I visited the Buland Darwaza. It is the largest gate in the world and stands 40 meters tall.

If you look carefully at the roof of the gate, you can see multiple honeycombs shown more clearly below.

With the tour of Fatehpur Sikri complete, I made my way back to the waiting taxi to finish the drive to Agra. Arriving at the apartment a bit later than expected, I was relieved to get there and crash. The apartment is far larger than one person requires, but was the only thing I could find cheap on Airbnb within a couple of miles of the Taj Mahal (well, except an entire 10 room yoga retreat for $37 / night, but I was not sure what I was going to do with a 10 room yoga complex all to myself).