My Trip to India: A GRAtifying trip to AGRA: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, & Surroundings

Day 3:

We woke up at 5:45am to a phone call from the front desk: “Your taxi has arrived mam.” Jake and I shot out of bed and quickly gathered our things for the 4 hour car ride to Agra. We were relieved to know that Jesse would be our taxi driver (same man who picked us up at the airport).

I attempted to sleep, but could not due to the fact that we drove through villages the entire way. I was taken aback by the busy streets, schools, and farms. We saw monkeys, cows, mules, camels, pigs, dogs, and an elephant. The most painful thing to witness was the man who was walking on his hands with his broken/tangled legs dragging behind him.

Camel in the shade

Street Barber shaving a man's beard

After a long car ride, we made it to Agra where we picked up our tour guide for the day, Mr. Ashish Gupta. Ashish seemed to know everyone in town. He was about 30 years old, and dressed in business attire. When we saw him, we knew that the day would be a breeze. With Ashish, we didn’t have to worry about beggars, safe food/water, or trying to learn all the history on our own.

Taj Mahal: The history of the Taj was amazing: It took 22 years with over 20,000workers to build. It was built purely due to love. Queen Mumtaz Mahal’s last wishes of her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, was for him to 1. Never marry again and 2. Build a beautiful building in her honor. I’d say emperor Shah did a good job… The building was phenomenal. You could look at a single square inch of the white marble building and be impressed. The marble was skillfully carved from massive slabs into delicate and feminine lattice work. It was lined with colorful stone, including: cornelian, mother of pearl, Indian jade, coral, turquoise, and lapis lazuli. There were four pillars surrounding it, a mosque at the west end, and a fake mosque on the east end built purely for symmetrical purposes.

Stone work of the Taj Mahal

Attempting to take a tacky jumping picture.

Marble and Stone Demonstration: We went to view a demonstration on how the stones were inlayed, without error, into the white marble of the Taj Mahal. The family who inlayed the stones on the Taj passed on the secrets of the trade to the men in the family. We were able to see the current generation carving, buffering stones, and placing them into the marble. They gave me a bindi made of lapis lazuli, a blue stone. I was told the Bindi (the dot in the middle of the forehead) typically represents marriage, but that it also represents beauty, so I let allowed them to place it on my head. We purchased a few items each for a high price, but it was worth it, beautiful work. Charli, the owner, was a pleasant man. We spent about an hour with him, and he told me the following “I love you and you should come back to Agra and be a visitor in my home. Tell your father to give you more money to come back to India.” I laughed, took a picture with him, and went on my way. Sorry Charli, you’re 40yo and my father wouldn’t approve.

Stone workers and the bindi on my forehead

Charli and I. Note: intense hand grab at the waist.

Beautiful work. So many tiny stones in top quality marble.

Agra Fort: a massive fort made of red sandstone located on the bank of the Yamuna River. It was built by the Emperor Akbar (grandfather of the emperor who built the Taj Mahal) in 1565. It was huge, covering ~3km. Jake, being a religious studies major, was in heaven. There was a sampling of architecture from Hindu and Islamic traditions. It was an enormous place, but did not lack detail. Truly extraordinary. This is the part in the day where the heat, dehydration, and lack of sleep started to get to me. We left for some cold water and food.

Agra Fort Entrance

This dog has the right idea.

Little baby at Agra Fort with his bum hanging out.

Diwan-i-Am in Agra Fort: the public audience hall

Riao: a local restaurant and had a traditional Indian meal. Very good food: garlic naan, rice, and murg botiwala (a chicken dish). The server laughed at the bindi stone on my forehead asking if I was really married. When I responded no, he asked me who had put it on my head. I removed it from my head in embarrassment feeling like a total tourist.

Lunch

Fatehpur Sikri: an abandoned city ~37kms away from Agra. The Mughal Emperor Akbar planned this to be the capital city when it was built, but the shortage of water compelled him to abandon the city. Proof that history repeats itself…we had to abandon the city because we were thirsty, tired, and feeling uneasy from the food. In the time that we were there we saw beautiful architecture that was a blend of various religious influences. There was a lot of interesting history that would have been more interesting if it weren’t 105F and humid.

Homeward bound: on the way home we went a different way that passed through villages that represented the simple life that most of India lives. Once we got back on the highway, we found what is equivalent to a rest stop. It had a gas station, a coffee shop, and a McDonalds. Jesse got some dinner while Jake and I got a coffee. Out of curiosity, Jake and I looked at the McDonalds menu. Some of the food included the Mc Paneer Sandwich and the veggie burger. When we got back in the car, Jake was a doll and moved to the front so I could curl up in the backseat and sleep. I slept for about three hours to find that we were still far from Delhi, that I missed a crazy street party, and that Jesse was sick of driving through traffic. Eventually we made it home, and I had my first solid 8 hour sleep here in India…refreshing.