| Fatehpur Sikri | Taj Mahal |
Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri is a remarkable place. It is made from deep red sandstone, in the Moghal style and was the headquarters of Emperor Akbar. Originally the walls of this palace and fort complex were covered in semi-precious jewels and even in the icey cold rain it was still beautiful.
Some cold people shuddering on the chess table. The local guide (in white) is torturing a hapless student with more questions about what he's just said.
In the centre of the main buildings adjacent to the main square (centred on a man size chess table), stands a famous column. It is carved in four different traditional styles, the Islamic, the Hindu, the Christian and the Jewish. This is to comemmorate the fact the Akbar had 4 wives, one from each of the religions. They all had their own homes in the palace and were treated equally. Of course, this column is also a testament to Akbar's political skill (or his advisors) by marrying into all of the major religions you marginalise none of them and make fewer enemies.
Unfortunately for Akbar, all his statesmanship could not conjure water from the ground, so Fatehpur Sikri was abandoned in the 16th century for a lack of water. Today that's hard to believe what with the amount that fell on us !
This is the tomb of Akbar's spiritual advisor (Chisti). It is a pilgrimage site for Muslims today, but walking to it on icey cold water with no footwear was painfull indeed!
The Taj Mahal. Beautiful and invisible. Our run of luck with the weather continued to the following day until dawn when we arrived to watch the exceptional sunrise over the Taj. The sun came up and we saw, well fog. We stood exactly where we wanted to and got 'the Princess Di' photo minus the background. Oh well, let's call it another reason to visit India again one fine day..
We also lucked out out in another way. Just as with the tomb the day before, we had to remove all footwear before climbing the stairs to the Taj itself. When I got to the main platform, I thought my feet were on fire. The morning dew on the polished white marble was an anavoidable freezer burn. After my feet went totally num the only thing I had to worry about was slipping over (which I acheived twice - one of which was real slapstick).
My wife poses screaming at me to hurry up and take the photo - 'My feet are frozen!'.
As with the mosques of Iran, Koranic script is written in such a way to compensate for perspective.
The elusive dome of the Taj - finally I got to see it!
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