A Mughal story

Day 5 - Agra

We woke up to another cold and foggy day. This time we were really disappointed at the fog, since we wanted clear pictures of the Taj... We had a quick breakfast in the hotel (buffet of veg curry, naan, eggs and bread) and then met our guide for the day in reception. His name was Ravi, and he was a slightly older gentleman with dark glasses. He asked our names, and when he could not pronounce Werner, we said 'Van' but he heard it as Warne , as in Shane Warne, and proceeded to call Werner Mr Warne from then onwards. We agreed it would make the most sense to visit Agra fort first,  in the hopes of the weather clearing. 

Arriving at the fort, we were hassled by a lot of people trying to sell us stuff, but Ravi directed us right on through. We purchased a combined ticket for the fort and Taj Mahal, Rs1000 each. This was the most expensive ticket we had paid, but Ravi explained how much effort went into preserving the Taj, the world's most beautiful monument. Apparently they even shut down most of the industry in Agra to prevent damage by pollution...

The outside of the fort is enormous and imposing, built of red sandstone. We entered the fort via the Amar Singh gate, crossing over one of the fort's two moats to get there. Apparently they were once filled with water and crocodiles. The fort was built by the Mughal emperor Akhbar (the Great) in the mid 1500's, in a mixture of Hindu and Islamic styles. It seems he was quite wise to not upset the masses of Hindus in the land he occupied, and he and the future rulers often took Muslim as well as Hindu wives. They were only allowed four wives by law, but could have as many concubines as they desired!

As we walked up a steep incline, Ravi painted the picture of the Emperor entering on an elephant, surrounded by servants with horses. The slope used special non-slip stone for these animals. Inside a garden area of the compound, Ravi showed us a map of the area, indicating the parts we would see, and the other 80% which was currently occupied by the Indian army. In the courtyard was also an enormous stone bath (more like an upright pool) with three steps and beautiful carvings,which empress Nur Jahan used to have filled with rose petals for bathing.

The first area we saw was the Jahangiri Mahal (Mahal means palace), built by Akhbar's son, Jahangir. This area was built of red sandstone, with elaborate carvings and decorations. We spotted stars resembling the star of David, which we had also seen on Humayun's tomb in Delhi. Ravi explained that the one triangle represented the trinity of Hunduism (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) and the other triangle represented their respective goddesses (Saraswati, Laxmi and Parvati). The dot in the centre represented the universe. We entered a hall where the emperor would have disembarked from his elephant onto a platform. Musicians would have played in an upper room in this area.

The next area was a large courtyard, surrounded by two bedrooms and a Hindu temple, which would have been used by Jahangir's Hindu wife. The temple had niches in which the pantheon of Hindu gods could be displayed. The doorways were elaborately decorated with multi layered sculpture. The bedrooms were designed to make the most of the weather: the one on the one side would have received full sunlight at midday, while the other would receive practically none. Thus the emperor would switch bedrooms depending on whether it was summer or winter. Who needs central heating? The bedrooms were large open areas, beautifully carved, with open arches instead of doors. Carpets would have hung here for warmth and privacy. 

We then entered the library, with shelves and niches for books. We looked at a nice carved design and Ravi pointed out the swastikas, again symbols of Hinduism. Next through an area which overlooked the river Yamuna, and up a few stairs to the palace of winds - hooks in the ceilings showed where a swing bench would have been hung for the emperor and his queen. This area had a lovely view, and would have had a pleasant breeze in summer. On this particular day, however, it was rather chilly!

Inside another chamber, he instructed me (who he was now affectionately referring to as his daughter) and 'Mr Warne' to go to opposite ends of a room. By speaking into the wall, you could somehow perfectly hear each other, although on competent opposite sides... He also explained that the walls in this area were hollow, allowing air to pass through - air conditioning! Near here were the daughters bedrooms, simper in decoration, and with many niches for mirrors and decorations. Some of the niches had 'secret' holes in them, where the princesses would have kept jewelry. In the middle of the two princess palaces, was another larger hall, the Khas Mahal, which would have been elaborately decorated with gold leaf. Undortunately, most of the gold leaf was stolen, but one panel remained, showing what it would have looked like.

Next we saw the Muthamman Burj palace, where emperor Shah Jahan (who built the Taj) was imprisoned by his own son, Aurangzeb. This area had a fountain and waterfall, and a fantastic view, and would not have been the worst place to be imprisoned... Previously the palace was occupied by Shah Jahan's stepmother, Nur Jahan, the one addicted to the smell of rose petals.

We headed up a flight of stairs, along a passage and passes the Mina masjid, shah Jahan private mosque, and most probably the smallest in the world. The passage led to a large open courtyard called the fish palace (machchhi bhavan).   Previously the courtyard was filled with water containing all kinds of fish. There were platforms on either end where the emporer and his wives could sit and admire the view. On the lower level a jewel market would be opened on request of the emperor and then only the women of the palace would be allowed to shop there - a bit like home shopping network. There was a womens mosque in the far corner of the courtyard. 

To our right was the Diwan-I-Khas, an open air private court where the emperonr would meet his court and advisors. On either side was a raised platform for the emperors throne, one made of white marble, the other black onyx. Ravi pointed out iron rings used when tents were set up during bad weather. Shah Jahan didn't like the open court so much, so he built a covered marble palace opening onto the existing court. We walked over to the black platform, and Ravi explained that during the mutiny against the British, a cannon ball was fired and ricochet off the platform and struck the marble palace leaving an almost perfect circular hole. Beyond the courts were the royal baths or haman. From here we proceeded back to the grape garden. Ravi  ushered us to a side entrance, and we peered through the glass into a dark hall beyond in which we could see little reflecting stone throwing back the light from the locked entrance. Ravi spun us a tale of the shah jahans misery after the death of his favorite wife, and his friends encouraged him to create a distraction for himself. So he built the place and filled it with mirrors and then enjoyed watching the beautiful ladies dancing naked refelted by the mirrors. Needless to say his depression was rapidly cured. 

Making our way out of the palace, we came upon the Diwan-i-aam, the public meeting place. We really admired the colonnaded arches, which when viewed the side produced a multi-layered visual effect. There was a platform where the emperor would address the crowd, and a latticed window to the side where the ladies could sit and observe but not participate. Beyond this would see a large mosque, but this was in the military section which we could not enter. We walked through the  gardens and out a large gate, down the ramp and back out of the fort. From here we drove to the Taj Mahal.