the journey continues…

Fathepur Sikri which is around 50km from Agra was the capital of Mughal King Akbar.”Sikri” was the abode of a Sufi saint named Salim Chisti, to whom Akbar had prayed for an heir. When Jogha Bhai, Akbar’s wife gave birth to his son Jahangir in 1569, Akbar built a tomb in honor of the saint and decided that he would built a grand new capital for the Mughal Empire in Sikri, to be called as Fatehpur Sikri.Fathe means victory in Arabic.It seems that Akbar took great interest in building this architectural marvel.But due to lack of water supply the city was abandoned after 15 years. Some of the great buildings of Mughal period could be seen here.
Buland Darwaza, a high gateway (176feet height) which celebrates Akbar’s conquest of Gujarat.

A beautiful white marble tomb of saint Salim Chisti.People from different community pray here.There is also a ritual of tying a thread at the marble windows of this Dargah in order to have one’s wishes fulfilled and, consequently, many threads can be seen to be tied there.

Other monuments of interest are :
Panchmahal a 5 storied building is built in Persian style and it was mainly for the royal ladies of the family.
Jodhabai’ s Palace which is the largest of all the palaces in Fatehpur Sikri.
Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas halls used by kings to address the audience.

Guide also pointed out many spots where the movie Pardes ( Sharukh’s) and Jodha Akbar have been shooted!

Some tips to keep in mind before you visit the place :
Its better if you go with local guides/conducted tourists from Agra.Local people/guides near fort do not know how to behave with tourists and they will try their best to get a good amount of money from you.
I also believe that the guide we hired didn’t show all the buildings to us.Initially he said 300 and after bargain he agreed for 100 bucks.For most of the people guiding tourists is a part time job here but they are too greedy.
Summers would be very bad.Carrying a hat,cool glasses and drinking water would be really helpful.

Humayun’s Tomb or Makbara (as they call in Urdu/Hindi) is one among the beautiful historical monuments of NewDelhi.This was the first Mughal building built with gardens and it has inspired several major Mughal architectures in India including TajMahal.
The tomb has been built by Humayun’s wife Hazi Begum. It is built of red sandstone with decorative white marble inlay. The main building is dome shaped and is raised on a large stage[ which is very much similar to TajMahal]. The stage is around 17 meter high. There are stairs from all the four sides to reach on the stage.Inside the tomb,there are many rooms but some of them are locked for visitors.All the rooms have white marble tombs.The center room has a single tomb,which I assume Humayun’s tomb.
Unfortunately there are not much sign boards or displays to explain the history of the building.I strongly recommend reading about the history of the tomb and the mughal emperors of India before visiting.
There is a small entrance fee for the building and its open from sunrise to sunset.

Here is the location link and few photos on flickr.

Agra fort which is a World Heritage Monument is located close to TajMahal. Also known as Red Fort, the fort has been constructed in 15th century using red sandstones .It was a home to great mughal kings Humayun,Akbar,Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.They lived and ruled the country from here.It seems that there were around 500 buildings inside the fort.Most of them were demolished during the period of British.Now there are only few buildings inside the fort.

The fort has a big gate called AmarSingh Gate which is the main entrance for visitors.From Amar Singh Gate you walk over a ramp and on the left hand side you can see Jahangir Mahal.Jahangir Mahal, a double storied building was built by Akbar for his son Jahangir.

Next important thing is Jodhbhai’s Temple.As Jodha belonged to Hindu Religion, Akbar constructed a temple for her inside the fort.The temple’s architecture is similar to the temples of SouthIndia.There is also a separate kitchen and dining hall for Jodha Bhai inside the fort.

A grapes garden inside where grapes were grown specially for making wine for the kings.

There is a big bazar place called Mina Bazar where Royal ladies used to do shopping for gold,silver ornaments.The guide said ShahJahan met Mumtaz Mahal in Mina Bazar for the first time!!.

Most of the red stone buildings were demolished by Jahangir and Shahjhan in their quest to make buildings using white marble.Shah Jahan has built white marble residents for his two daughters Jahan and Roshan inside the fort.The beauty and magnificence of both the residences has not yet been diminished.Below pictures shows Kunta Pille game squares on the marble.All the pillars of the these buildings are built in Persian style and precious stones are carved on them.You can also see photo frames carved on the walls.It seems that thousands of people came from Persia to India to do all these designs.

There are 3 masjids or praying halls inside.Mina masjid ,Moti Masjid and Nagina Masjid. All of them are constructed in white marble.Moti Masjid was built by Shahjahan for the people of royal court. Mina masjid is a small mosque built by the Mughal king Shah Jahan for his personal use.Nagina Masjid was built for the ladies of the Royal family.

There are 2 halls inside the fort for addressing people and for meetings.Diwan-E-Khas for official purpose
where the Mughal emperor received important dignitaries or foreign ambassadors.In front of this hall, there are two marble thrones one is white and the other in black.The black throne belongs to Jahangir who ordered it for himself from Persia.
Diwan-I-Aam for addressing public audience.Here you can see the famous Peacock Throne ordered by Shahjahan.

Shahajahan spent his last days in Agra Fort as he was house arrested by his son Aurangzeb.It is said the major reason for putting his father under house arrest was that Shah Jahan wanted to build one more Taj Mahal, using black marble for which Aurangzeb did not agree.ShahJahan died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with an excellent view of the Taj Mahal.

The fort is open to visitors from sunrise to sunset.The best time to visit Agra is in winter- between November and March.Hindi movie Jodha Akbar starring Aishwarya and Hritik was shooted here.You can see Jodha’s temple,Peacock throne,Mina Bazar etc in the movie.
Agra fort is really a worth place to visit to view the marvelous architectural beauty in red sandstones and is a place not to be missed by historians and architects.
More photos on flickr.

“To the Dead Of the Indian Armies Who fell and are honoured in France,Persia,East Africa…the near and the far east and in sacred memory also of those whose names are here….”

Above are the 2 lines written on the India Gate,New Delhi the Capital of India.Reading those 2 lines I became emotional….so many soldiers sacrificed their lives.somebody’s son,husband,brother….
India Gate was built in the memory 90,00 soldiers who laid down their lives during world war I.

When I was studying in school,I used to read World War I, World War II.But hardly I understood the importance of those until I saw the Kargil Wars.I still remember watching Kargil War on Television, so many soldiers died,their relatives pain..It was countless.
That time in MG Road Bangalore, the Indian air force authority had put a big cut out of the below pictures:
First one where Captain (Dr.) Rajshree Gupta, Army Medical Corps (AMC), salutes the tricolour-draped coffin of her husband, Major Vivek Gupta of the 2nd Rajputana Rifles, who died fighting the enemy.


Other one where she is controlling her emotions during the last ceremony…


Every day while going to office,I would see these pics which touched me so much.
All websites in the internet, mention India Gate as a popular picnic spot!!!.People come here, see it as a monument , take pics from far/near then eat there,play and go..thats it!!.
Is that the whole purpose for which this monument hasbeen built? or
Do we really understand the sacrifice made by our people to the country??