On the Road In Wild India: Iconic India

February 1-2, 2015

After one more morning of birding in the beautful Keoladeo National Park, and a great find of the hard to see black bittern, we left Birder's Inn in Bharatpur to head for Agra. Our drive included a stop along the way at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just 25 miles from Agra. We visited Fatehpur Sikri, a magnificent Mughal fort built by the Emperor Akbar in the late 1500's. For those of you who, like us, don't know a great deal about India's long and complex history, the Mughals were of Persian descent and, in the early 1500s, they conquered much of Northern India, ruling there for roughly two and a half centuries. In fact, Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal was Akbar's grandson.

Upon our arrival at the fort, we met up with our very knowledgeable guide, Chandrapal Singh, who accompanied us to the historic sites we visited over the next two days. He explained that after several military victories, Akbar decided to build the fort complex there in 1571, in honor of a Sufi saint who had resided at the site. He chose to use it as his seat of power, although he abandoned the site by 1585. There is still some debate as to why it was deserted. One theory had to do with the lack of a sustainable water supply. Another with whether the location was strategic enough to help stabilize the region.

Chandrapal took us on a walking tour of the vast fort and its mosque and explained both its history and its architecture. Fatehpur is a meticulously planned city, surrounded by a vast wall, constructed of the local red sandstone that was used in much of the magnificent Mughal architecture of India.

After our tour of these amazing structures, we continued on to Agra, arriving during the busy afternoon rush hour traffic. We tried to navigate the city and get to the bridge and across the river to view the Taj Mahal at sunset. Unfortunately, traffic was too snarled, so we turned around in a most unique Indian way, driving against oncoming traffic - it is amazing what the drivers do and what other drivers put up with, all as a matter of course. We opted to check in at our rooms at the Gateway Hotel and settled in for the evening. We discovered that we did have a view of the Taj Mahal from our room, although not one you normally see in photographs.

We had dinner there and headed to bed with plans to meet up very early in the morning to catch the Taj in the soft colors of the new day.

We arose while it was still dark and departed from the hotel so we could arrive at the Taj Mahal close to sunrise and be there when the gates opened. The Taj was built as a mausoleum for Shah Jehan's favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died giving birth to their thirteenth child. The mausoleum took seventeen years and thousands of workers to complete. The outlying buildings and gardens took an additional five years.

Chandrapal guided us through the site, pointing out many of its amazing features and highlights. Although it is one of the most iconic sights in all the world and you feel as though you know what to expect, the Taj is surprisingly larger than the classic photographs lead you to believe. In addition to the mausoleum with it's four minarets, there are also a mosque and an assembly hall on either side of the central area, as well as four entry gates. As all the structures were laid out to be perfectly symmetrical, the mosque and assembly hall are mirror images of each other.

Mosque at the Taj Mahal

One of the Gates to the Taj Mahal

The white marble is a departure from the red sandstone that was used more widely during that time. Brought all the way to Agra from Rajasthan, the marble is exquisite, in large part because of the fact that it changes hue depending upon the light, the sky, and the season. The marble is inlaid with semi-precious stones such as amethyst, cornelian, coral, jasper, lapis, mother of pearl, malachite, onyx, paua shell, tiger's eye and turquoise. In addition to the inlaid stones forming intricate floral and geometric patterns, there is much inlaid calligraphy on the structures, scaled so that all of it appears to be of the same height from the ground.

To say that the Taj Mahal is awe-inspiring is an understatement. It is so incredible and so intricate that one visit barely serves as an introduction. There is so much to see and learn about it that, despite the fact that it is likely the most visited site in all of India with the crowds to prove it, it warrants numerous visits just to begin to grasp its wonders.

After our tour we went back to the hotel for breakfast and to check out. In the afternoon, Chandrapal took us to one of the shops where gorgeous white marble tabletops and decorations inlaid with the same semi-precious stones as the Taj are made. There, at Akbar International, we learned about the marble and the inlay process and watched two very skilled craftsmen preparing and setting the stones. They work so closely cutting and shaping thin slivers of stone with a hone that they tend to lose their fingerprints. Their work was incredible, and we couldn't leave the shop without some coasters to take home.

Craftsman Inlaying Semi-Precious Stones in Marble

A Work in Progress

Lydia's Coasters

We also visited some other historic sites in Agra: the red sandstone Agra Fort, where Shah Jaheen actually lived, and then the white marble Tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah, also referred to as the "Baby Taj", as it is thought to have been part of the inspiration for the design of the Taj Mahal. In the later afternoon, we were able to get across the river to view the Taj from a bit more of a distance as the sun was low in the sky. Truly spectacular.