Agra (2-19)

On Thursday we traveled from Jaipur to Agra, a journey that took 7.5 hours. Most of the trip was on a good highway, as this is a well-traveled route. The rest was on a good road that went through some small towns. We passed potato fields where people were digging potatoes. We saw carts pulled by horses and camels. 

In one area there were lots of chimneys where bricks are made. Piles of bricks were near the chimneys, and we saw truckloads of bricks being transported. 

Villages had piles of cow dung drying for cooking and heating.

After 4.5 hours, we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri, a 16^th century fort/palace that was the Mughal capital before Agra. It is constructed with local red sandstone, and the carving is exquisite. 

In one place it includes Jain style, Hindu style, and Muslim style carvings. Rainwater was collected for drinking because the local water was salty due to salt in the earth.

At the same site we visited Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India where a famous Sufi saint is buried. 

The tomb is a sacred place that people walk around in reverence. Some people placed a cloth on top of the grave, where there is a big pile of them. 

Some purchased strings that are tied in the windows to make a wish.

After stopping for lunch, for which I had a delicious buffet, we headed on to Agra, which took another 1.5 hours. Agra is known for two things: the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. Since it was already 3:45, I was a little concerned that we wouldn’t have time for both, but we did. We had to visit the Taj Mahal that day because it is closed on Friday; so we wouldn’t be able to go there in the morning before leaving. I hadn’t realized that the Taj Mahal is surrounded by a wall and is not visible from outside the wall. Cars have to park far from the building to avoid polluting it. Electric trams are available, but we walked in. 

The red wall around the complex and the two buildings to the sides of the tomb are constructed with the same red sandstone used for the Fatehpur Sikri. 

Around the entrance to the main gate there are inlaid scriptures from the Koran.

Inside the gate everyone stops for photos. Of course, our guide took photos of us as well. Another photo spot is in the garden area with the reflecting pool.

The tomb is constructed with white Makrana marble from about 400 km north of Agra. This marble is special because it is crystallized and is non-porous. For this reason nothing can damage the marble and it does not get dirty. The building has never been cleaned in 400 years and has maintained its whiteness. Because of the crystallized marble, the color of the building changes with the sunlight. It would have been nice to be able to stay longer to watch the colors change as the sun descended, but we didn’t have time for that. The guide told us that in the summer the bright light makes the marble milky white, which is often its color in photos.

Even with the crowds of people being there was a truly awesome experience. Many aspects of the design are symbolic. At the top of the entrance gate there are twenty-two small domes, eleven on the front and eleven on the back. These represent the twenty-two years it took to build the Taj Mahal. The building is decorated with gemstones in a Persian style. 

Everything about the Taj Mahal is symmetrical. To the left there is a mosque. To the right there is an identical building that is only there for symmetry; it was never intended to be used. There is a line from the center of the entrance gate to the wife’s to sarcophagus. The top of a line down the center of one of the screens in the tomb points to the center of the top of the entrance gate. The line bisects the reflecting pool between the entrance gate and the tomb. The bottom of the line points to the center of the wife’s sarcophagus. The sarcophagi on display are imitations, as actual sarcophagi of the Sultan and his wife for are below ground. 

The two side domes at the top of the tomb look like they change position with perspective. From one side the dome on the left appears closer than the one on the right. From the other side the perspective is reversed. (Compare with previous photo.)

We went on to the Red Fort to get there before they stopped selling tickets for the day. I had been concerned that we wouldn’t have time to visit the Red Fort, but the guide explained that it didn’t take as much time as the Amber Fort because only 25% is open to the public. Most of it is used by the military. 





The Red Fort was the residence of the sultans. It is where the sultan who commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal was imprisoned in a tower room from which he could watch the Taj Mahal being built. I’d read about this in Beneath a Marble Sky and had thought the buildings were close. However, the Taj Mahal can barely be seen in the distance. This tower is closed now because people were vandalizing it, writing on the walls and removing inlaid gemstones. 

However, the Taj Mahal can be viewed from a terrace near the tower. (with telephoto)

The palace is, of course, magnificently beautiful. Some buildings are red sandstone; 

others are white marble. 

The marble walls are inlaid with gemstones. 

Sandstone is intricately carved and inlaid with contrasting white stone. Domes are golden.

The last stop was a workshop where inlaid stone items are made and sold. I’d never had the actual process explained before. The stones are flattened on one side. Then the setting is cut to match the bottom of the stones so that the surface is completely flat when the stones are inlaid. The items they sell are beautiful, but we didn’t purchase any.

We learned that Agra is a slaughterhouse for buffaloes and camels. The hides of both animals are used for leather. We saw many small trucks with two buffaloes in the back. I suppose that was their destination.

While riding down the streets of Agra, we saw men on bicycles who were carrying cylindrical cans behind them. These are milk deliverers.

On the way to the train station Friday morning, we saw a few buffalo-pulled carts. 

Just outside the train station there’s a red church.

We were in Agra about 17 hours and didn’t see the city—only the two famous monuments. What we did see was surprisingly undeveloped for a major tourist city.