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Fatehpur Sikri

Friday, 19 September 2014

The emperor Akbar built his capital city, Fatehpur Sikri ("City of Victory"), from scratch to honor a saint that correctly predicted that Akbar would have three sons. It was only occupied for fourteen years before Akbar was forced to leave to defend other parts of his empire. Some of the buildings and monuments have been restored, but much remains as it was left, and the place has a haunted feel to it: empty, yet alive.

The main courtyard with the "Panch Mahal" dominating the square. "Panch Mahal" means "Five Palace", so-called because of the five stories of arcades overlooking the courtyard.

The Diwan-i-Khas ("Jewel House") and gardens in the main courtyard.

The "Peerless Pool" in the main courtyard.

Just about every available surface is filled with geometric designs.

A random, but carefully constructed, mortared wall.

Christy

Sue

Living quarters in the Imperial Harem.

Imperial Harem

Adjacent to the palace area is the Jami Masjid (mosque). It is still an active mosque and serves the community below Fatehpur Sikri.

Jami Masjid. The white structure is the tomb of Shaikh Salim, the saint who prophesied Akbar's sons.

The main gate to the mosque (Buland Darwaza).

The prayer hall.

Looking into the prayer hall from the side.

Viewing the mosque courtyard through a stone screen.

Around Agra

Friday, 20 September 2014

The Taj Mahal is closed on Friday, so today we toured the "ghost city" of Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort. But before I get to those subjects, here are some quick shots of life in Agra.

I'll start with livestock.

Pigs rooting through garbage and trash on the street.
While not unheard of, pigs are not as common as cows, buffalo, and goats.

A ceremonial cow. Note the cow/buffalo dung drying on the concrete pipe.

While not seen in Vapi, drying cattle dung for fuel is common throughout India. I cringe when I see women collecting fresh dung with bare hands and putting it in a bucket. Yes, those are handprints in the cow patties. (Of course, in Vapi, it just dries in the street and gets crushed and turned into to dust by vehicles. So maybe it's actually better to dry it for later use.)

Let's move on to vehicles.

Agra is a center for shoe manufacturing. Here empty boxes are being delivered by cycle transport.

Food vendors come up to buses and trains to see street food. No need to disembark to get your lunch.

And finally, some Rollinson family pics.

Shopping for marble art. The descendants of the workers on the Taj Mahal still ply their craft in Agra.

Waiting for our van to take us to supper.

Taj Mahal (Sunset)

Thursday, 18 September 2014

The first view of the Taj Mahal was from our hotel rooms -- every room had a view of the Taj.

The Taj Mahal may the most photographed object in history. It's been awe-ing, inspiring, and delighting travelers since it was built in the mid 1600s. Some claim it is the most perfect monument ever built.

It's hard not to be cliché when photographing the Taj, but there's a reason why everyone takes the same photos.

Class photo #1: Framed in the gate arch.

Like I said, there are certain viewpoints where everyone wants to take a photo. The best part of this photo is that it was not staged! (Although the grins came about when Mandi, John, and Christy realized that I was taking a photo of them taking a photo.)

Classic photo #2: Just inside the gate.

Classic photo #3: mandatory photo-op.

It's not just humans that enjoy the peace and calm of the Taj gardens.

Humans are not allowed to walk on the grass, but the dogs don't care about signs.
The dogs of Agra also seem in better shape than those in Vapi.

Mynas were enjoying the puddles.

Looking back at the gate.

As the sun sets, mother-of-pearl insets provide sparkle to the marble.

The ethereal glow of sunset light.

Jaipur to Agra - Chand Baori

Thursday, 18 September 2014

The road from Jaipur to Agra is a slow two-lane road that winds through a number of small towns.

Camel carts were relatively common, but it was difficult to get a good picture from our mini-bus.

These tree protectors were unique to this part of India.
I'm not sure if the main source of damage is livestock or vehicles -- both seem likely!

Pollution of this sort is all too common throughout India. This is why the "dust" is largely black soot. Low-quality coal is the primary fuel for industry.

Chand Baori

Along the way from Jaipur to Agra, we made a short diversion to see the Chand Baori -- one of the oldest (8th or 9th Century) and deepest (19.5 m, 63 ft) stepwells in India. We were interested in the stepwell, our guide (stationed at the stepwell) was far more interested in telling us about Hindu gods and the artwork in the galleries, which has been collected from nearby places.

In the dry parts of India -- most notably Gujarat and Rajasthan -- stepwells collected water in the monsoon for use throughout the rest of the year. The steps assured access to the water regardless of the level. I can't imagine carrying water up those steps!
The gallery around the top of the stepwell is a relatively recent addition.

The air temperature near the water could be as much as 5°C (9°F) cooler than the surrounding countryside, so the royal family had a pavilion where they could take advantage of this.

This view of the pavilion gives a better sense of the steps as seen on the right side of the photo.

Here we are staring into the sun for the required photo-op. All except for Ross and John are wearing shirts and kurtis custom-made the previous evening in Jaipur. (About three hours from ordering to delivery at the hotel.) The women's kurtis are made with block-printed cotton cloth.

Jaipur - City Palace & Jantar Mantar

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

In the afternoon we toured the city of Jaipur, the "Pink City". Just as the Amer (Amber) Fort was painted in a yellow color, most of the buildings in Jaipur have been painted a distinctive orange-pink color.

City Palace

The main audience pavilion in the City Palace.

In the main entrance courtyard.

The main women's courtyard had four elaborately decorated doorways. Each one was slightly different.

Peacock detail from one of the doors.

The Hawa Mahal ("Wind Palace") is a pavilion near the City Palace that provided a location for women to view the goings-on in the street below. It is essentially just a facade -- a scant one-room thick wall.

Jantar Mantar

Next to the City Palace is the Jantar Mantar observatory. The name means "calculation instrument". Jai Singh, king and astronomer, designed and built five of these in north-central India to keep track of all important astronomical observations.

The small sundial.

With this sundial, you can read the time to the nearest 15 sec. The numeral near the center of the image is a Sanskrit/Hindi 4. So the local time was about 3:55:45.

The large sundial. In theory, it can be read to the nearest second, but the width of the sun's shadow becomes an issue at this resolution -- as does the lack of total perfection in construction and wear over the years.

There are a total of fourteen instruments at this site. They can be used to predict a number of astronomical events such as eclipses, solstices, equinoxes, as well as tracking planets and stars.

Jaipur -- Amer Fort

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Our morning excursion was to the Amer (Amber) Fort and Palace just north of Jaipur.

Amer Fort

Watchtower on the exterior wall.

After an exciting jeep ride up the narrow streets to the fortress entrance, we entered the fort and palace.

Ganesha Pol (Ganesha Gate) in the main courtyard.

An alternative is to ride an elephant up the hill and enter through the main gate. Elephant rides are controversial -- is it animal cruelty or just another case of using animals as beasts of burden? The elephants are limited to two passengers a trip, no more than four or five trips to the top and back, and working only in the cooler morning hours. Regardless, they are an impressive sight.