|
South Asia Trip (Sept - Dec 2002) Agra
& Fatehpur Sikri |
|
| I was in Agra for a day as it is 4 hr drive from Delhi 2002 on November 7, 2002. Rented a car and driver with two other girls I met in Delhi for $50 each and made a road trip to Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. In the 16th and 17th century, Agra was the capital of India under the Mughal empire. The Yamuna River that flows through the city has become an open sewer and scientists recently declared it incapable of supporting any life form. The city reached the peak of its magnificence between the mid 16th and mid 17th centuries under the reigns of Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan. | |
|
The Taj Mahal is considered the most extravagant monument built for love. Emperor Shah Jahan had it built in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz, who died during child birth in 1631. The construction began in the same year and was completed in 1653. In total 20000 people worked on the building (some later had their hands or thumbs amputated, to ensure that the perfection of the Taj could never be repeated). |
This magnificent fortified ghost city was the capital of the Mughal Empire between 1571-1585, during the reign of Emperor Akbar. It was thereafter quickly abandoned, but thanks to the durable red sandstone and a lot of work by the Archeological Survey of India it remains a perfectly preserved example of a Mughal City at the height of the empire's splendour. |