Agra trip

Since it was the last weekend for some of my friends in our project, we decided to go to Agra over the weekend. I had booked the Indica on public request thru the cab driver I knew. Last Saturday, I joined Srikant, Babu and Ujjwal at 7:15 AM from Green Park and left for Agra. These people stayed in Gurgaon, and so I had arranged the cab from their place only.

I was taken aback by the sound of the car. And, more so when the driver said that the horn's didn't work and there were no lights. We were just hoping that nothing goes wrong for the day. We had breakfast at around 9 in some dhaba. We entered Uttar Pradesh, and our driver stopped to pay the state entry toll fee of Rs. 300. We waited for 15 mins and then he came back saying they are not asking for toll today. We wondered. After that, at around 10, he took us to a village claiming that the number plate was broken. We had to wait for an hour, and then the golmaal happened. Our driver got the number plate changed, from yellow to white! So, the taxi became a private car in an hour! We were shocked by the proceedings, but couldn't help much as he was not listening to us. What a daylight illegal activity that was!

We moved on after the 1 hour delay to Fatehpur Sikri as per original plan. I was the show runner this time :) We reached Fatehpur Sikri at around 1 PM and hired a guide. He told that parking, slipper stand, travel from parking to the fort and all other expenses would be covered in Rs. 350. We got into a rick from the parking and went uphill to the entry of Fatehpur Sikri. The guide went on to tell the history of the place. Akbar, inspite of having 3 wives each of different religion, didn't get a heir to his kingdom. He then went to sait Salim Chisti in Sikri, with whose blessings he was blessed with a child. To commomorate this, he shifted his capital from Agra to Fathehpur Sikri and built the fort and monument on the hill top and also named his son Salim. The mausoleum of Salim Chisti is also a part of the fort complex, and anyone who goes there, their wishes will get fulfilled.

We entered it and he took us round the 4 sides of the complex. We entered thru the Agra gate, and the first thing we saw was the Diwan-I-Aam, or the hall of public audience. Its a huge rectangular walled-in courtyard. Straight was the Jama Masjid. There were 83 small rooms around the square, in which there were students from madrasas living, but its now closed. He also told that this was the place where shootings of Pardes's 'do dil mil rahe hai' song, and few shots from Jodha-Akbar were shot. The guide also showed us the underground escape tunnel (surang) which connects to Agra Fort thru which the legend has it that Salim and Anarkali escaped thru this. There were some tombs in the corner and he told that these were of Akbar's family and explained how to distinguish between a man and woman's tomb. He then showed the place where Jahangir was born, and took us to the Diwan-I-Khas, which lies behind the Diwan-I-Aam.

He then took us to the tomb of Chisti. He told us not to go empty handed, so we got a bedsheet from a nearby vendor. We went to he tomb and handed the chadar to the person there, and went round it. The outer wall of Dargah was very beautifully carved in artistic style, fanciful jali work. The guide showed us one wall, which had the most carvings, and he told to look it from a distance inside, and it appeared like a mirror. But from the outside, the view was completely different. Opposite the tomb was the backside of Buland Darwaza.

He explained the tomb structure and told that water collected on top of roof due to rains would flow down thru the hollow pillar and would get collected in the underground tank. We then went to the Jama Masjid, where pillar structure was very beautiful.

We then came outside the Buland Darwaza. This darwaza was so huge, that it couldn't fit in my camera in one go. The guide mentioned that this celebrates Akbar's conquest of Gujarat. The towering portal has the height of 176 feet from ground level and 134 feet over the top step. The grand recessed central arch is the most magnificent of its kind in the entire range of Mughal architecture in India. It was truely majestic. It was so hot that we couldn't step out beyond the spread carpet.

For more info on Fatehpur Sikri, click here and here.

It was 2:45 when we completed Fatehpur Sikri and we paid the guide, and left for Agra at 3. The guide asked us to visit Agra Fort first and then go to the Taj, at sunset time. Agra Fort was around 45 kms from Fatehpur Sikri and it took us an hour to reach. At Agra Fort, we entered Jahangiri Mahal and once we entered there, it seemed like all the rooms in the building were interconnected and we lost track of where we came from. We saw the Sheesh Mahal, Shahjahani Mahal, Diwan-I-Aam, and also the Taj. Here are a few pics. As we didn't have much time, we just had to rush thru it.

Bengali Mahal: View of Taj from Agra Fort:
Muthamman Burj and Jharoka: Khas Mahal: Sheesh Mahal: Diwan-I-Aam where once the peacock throne was kept:



The place where Jodha-Akbar was shot:
For more info on Agra Fort, click here.

We left Agra Fort at 5 and came to Taj parking. By the time we got out of Agra Fort, our driver got the horn and lights corrected. From the parking, we took a battery operated vehicle who drove us to a small handicrafts market where there were saris made of banana leaves, and other fruits. We then stood in the long queue for the Taj tickets, where the guides came and pestered us to hire them. But we rejected them. Who doesn't know the history of Taj! And, what else was there in Taj to see!
We entered the Taj complex thru the West gate. There were 2 other gates in each direction - South and East. In the North, was a huge gate.

We passed thru the North gate and saw the Taj. The Taj. One of the new 7 wonders of the world. And I just kept seeing it.. Couldn't take my eyes off it. What a lovely 'Monument of Love' had Shahjahan built.

As we stood near the North gate, some photographer came to us and started telling the history of Taj Mahal. Apart from the normal story that Shahjahan constructed this in memory of his wife Mumtaj Mahal, he told that it took some 12 years to construct this, and a ramp was used to reach the top. The height of the topmost trident like thing was itself 35ft. And that, the four pillars around the Taj were earthquake resistant. Even if an earthquake happened, the four pillars would protect the tomb. On the right of Taj was the mosque and to the left of it was a guest house. And all the monuments here were in perfect symmetry. He also told that the Taj changes it colors during the course of the day, especially during sunset. On the full moon day, its not possible to describe its beauty.

On the left of the North gate, there was some exhibition in which there were some paintings of Indian history and culture. We didn't see much of it and straight proceeded to the tomb. The floor was cold enough. There was some queue to enter the tomb. We entered and saw that entry to the actual tomb is near the gateway. Inside was a very dark room, where the fictious tomb resides.

We came out of the tomb and went around the area. We took some pics for matrimony ;) Here are some pics of the Taj. Behind the Taj, Yamuna flowed. The view of the garden was lovely.
It was already 6:45 PM and we started to leave the Taj. I took one last photo of the Taj in the dark. My long standing wish of visiting the Taj was fulfilled.
For the best reviews of Taj, click here and here.

We came out of the Taj complex and suddenly a heavy wind blew. In just a few seconds, rain started, and we just managed to get into the car, after a small tonga ride. Agra traffic was bad in the rains and we moved slowly. Midway, our driver stopped at a famous Petha shop and we bought kgs of Petha. Agra is famous for its Petha sweet. We had dinner at around 9:30 PM close to Mathura in a dhaba. This was the first proper meal of the day. We continued at 10:15 PM, but the driver told that he was very sleepy. So, we took a 45 min break in between at a dhaba and again started at 11:45 PM. Finally, I reached my guest house at 2 AM and hit bed. The other folks reached their places after half an hour.

Wholly, this was an incredible trip. Finally, made it happen!


P.S: Today, I came to know that we had missed the best places to visit in Fatehpur Sikri - Diwan-I-Khas, Panch Mahal, Birbal's place, etc. :(