the journey continues…

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.

I had seen TajMahal 10 years back when I was kid..I still remember it was so hot when we went there and I was just looking out for some shades there!!. TajMahal didn’t mean anything to me in that age. It was just another monument.
But as I started travelling more, I realized that whereever you go, that place should give you a nice feeler to you.Then that memories will be there in your heart forever and you will cherish them lifelong.When Logu told, we will plan for TajMahal, I started searching in the internet for all possible options so that I can make this trip a nice remembrance.
I was not disappointed and I got this info about the Moonlight view of TajMahal. Seeing Taj in moonlight!!..Wow…that’s amazing!!
Every month on full moon days the Agra Tourism Board arranges for this moon light view of Taj [except in the month of Ramzan].Tickets are priced at 500 per head and you must buy the tickets 1 day in advance.
So after finalizing all these, we flied to Delhi, then to Agra by taxi. Delhi to Agra journey was cool. As we started early we didn’t get much traffic also. You can find a lot of dhabhas along the way from Delhi to Agra and food is really not a problem.
Taj opens at early morning 6 30.To avoid the crowd, we were there by 7 30.Its a pleasure to see this magnificent monument when morning sun rays fall on it. When we entered the premises, crowd was less and weather was also pretty good. You should sit on the front marble seat to get the full and marvelous view of the TajMahal. Mumtaz’s & Shahajahan’s tombs are inside the building.
Backside of the taj gives a beautiful view of Yamuna River.Whole structure has been carved in parsian style and engraved with precious stones in colors of red,green,blue and yellow.
Basically there are 2 amazing things you should know about TajMahal.
One is the entire structure has a wooden base!!.The wood, which is of a special kind becomes stronger and stronger as it comes in contact with water.Since Taj was built beside Yamuna River this was absolutely required.
Secondly there is a small unspotted hole on the top, from which water droplets will fall on the tombs of Mumtaz and Shahajahan during rainy season.Truly it deserves to be one among the wonders of the world.
I was also fascinated by the pool in front which gives the complete reflection of the Taj.

After taking pics from different angle we were exhausted for the day and head back to hotel.Also we had tickets for the Moonlight view of the Taj at 12 for which I wanted to take some rest and be fresh.
Night we started around 10PM towards the west gate of the TajMahal for the MoonLight View. Video cams and Mobiles are not allowed and security would be very high.They will allow people to go in slots of 50 for a duration of half an hour. I have attached some pics of the moonlight view.I enjoyed the view so much and it is really something special .

Except the taj there is nothing to feel good about Agra. We booked Yamuna View Hotel which was rated 4-star but the service and the accommodation was very bad. I wanted to buy small replica of Taj for home,but the guide as well as driver took us to various shops which were all highly priced. Somehow I got the feeler that there would be commissions for everyone if we do the shopping there!.Bad business!!There would be long queues for getting the tickets as well as for the security checks while entering Taj which eats most of the time.