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| AGRA |
Agra
is world wide famous for Taj Mahal, which
is the mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal, wife of
Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Formarly it was
the capital city of Mughals but later they
shifted to delhi as per the pilitical and
other needs. Excluding Taj Mahal there are
many other places to visit like Agra Fort,
Jma Masjid, Jahangir's Palace, Secandrabad
and Fatehpu Sikri etc. The whole city is
full of Mughal style of architechture at
its best. |
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| PLACES IN
AGRA |
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| Taj
Mahal |
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Taj
Mahal is the most famous Mughal
Monument which was constructed
by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory
of his young and beautiful wife
Mumtaz Mahal. Taj MAhal is described
as the most extravagant monument
ever built for love. Shah Jahan
was heartbroken when Mumtaz
died in 1629 in childbirth after
17 years of marriage. |
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The
construction of the Taj began in 1631.
Almost 20,000 workers were recruited
not only from all over India but also
from central Asia and other places.
Architechtural Experts were brought
from Europe, the Frenchman Austin
of Bordeaux and the Italian Veroneo
of Venice for its decoration. The
structure of Taj Mahal stands on a
marble platform on the northern side
of the ornamental gardens. The whole
building including the platform is
made of milky white marbel stone.
Tall and fully decorative white pilars
in each corner of the platform makes
a grace full look. Twin red sandstone
buildings are there,of which the west
side is a mosque and the identical
one is purely for symmetry,but it
It cannot be used as a mosque for
its wrong direction. The central structure
is huge. The tombs of Mumtaj and Shah
Jahan are in the basement room and
in the main chamber it is false tombs.The
Taj is amazingly graceful from each
and every angle. |
Path
leading from the main gate to the
Taj is divided by a long watercourse
in which the Taj is reflected beautifully
if it is filled with water. The ornamental
gardens is designed according to the
classical Mughal lines of a square
quartered designs. |
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| Agra
Fort |
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Agra
Fort - Agra Fort was built by
Emperor Akbar on the bank of
the river Yamuna and beautified
by his son Jehangir with palaces
and gardens.It is in the centre
of Agra city. One can enter
to the fort only through the
Amar Singh Gate. Akbar started
constructing this fort which
was ended by Shah Jahan. During
Akhar's time it was principally
a military structure. |
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Diwan-i-Am
or the Hall of Public Audiences was
built by Shah Jahan.Earlier it was
an wooden structure. This is where
the emperor used to meet general people
with their problrms. Beside the Diwan-i-Am
there is the small Nagina Masjid. |
A door
leads to the Ladies' Bazaar, where
female merchants came to sell goods
to the royal ladies and no males were
allowed to enter this bazaar except
Akbar. |
Diwan-i-Khas
or the Hall of private Audiences was
also built by Shah Jahan, Here the
emperor used to do all important works
and meatings with his ministers and
foreign ambassadors.The famous Peacock
Throne was kept here before it was
moved to Delhi by Aurangzeb. It was
later carted off by Nadir Shah. |
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| Jama
Masjid |
Jama
Masjid was built in 1648 AD, in memory
of Sheikh Salim Chisthi and his grandson
Islam Khan by Sha Jahan's daughter
Jehanara Begum. The masjid is a wonderful
combination of Iranian and Mughal
architecture. The building has a rectangular
open forecourt and striking marble
pattern. |
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| Chini
ka Rauza |
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Chini Ka Roza or the tomb of
Afzal Khan is just one km away
from itmad- ud-daula.He was
the minister of Shah Jaehan
and aslo a poet too.He was ordered
to kill Shibaji as he was the
most reliable person to do this
work.The whole building is made
of brightly coloured glazed
tiles with a persian style. |
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| Akbar's
Mausoleum |
It
is Sikandra, just 10 km from Agra,where
the tomb of Akbar is lies in the centre
of the large garden. Akbar himsel
startes this construction but was
completed by his son, Jehangir who
significantly changed the original
plans.There are four gates made of
sandstone lead to the tomb complex
indicate the mjor religion Hindu,Muslim,Christian
and his own and unique secular one.
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| Itimad
-ud -daulah |
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This tomb was made in memory
of Mirza Ghiyas Beg,who was
Jehangir's wazir or prime minister
and father of Empress Noor Jahan.It
is also known as the "baby taj"
as it was the first Mughal structure
built from marble. The tomb
was constructed By Noor Jahan,
between 1622 and 1628 and very
similar to the Tomb she made
for her hasband Jahangir in
Lahore. |
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| Ram
Bagh |
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Ram
Bagh is one of the earliest
Mughal Gardens in India. It
was laid out by first Mughal
emperor Babar.He was temporarily
buried here before pemanently
interred at Kabul, his home
place.This is a huge garden
and well planed and maintained
too. |
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| Fatehpur
Sikri |
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Fatehpur Sikri was built by
great Mughal Emperor Akbar between
1571 and 1584. The architectural
grandeur of this city cannot
be described in words.One can
only experience its magnificent
edifices by seeing them. It
is the combinations of palaces,mosque
and monuments. |
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Though
The Taj Mahal is one of the greatest
monumnets of the world,but Fatehpur
Sikri is as remarkable as its the
best of Mughal style of architechture. |
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| Diwan-I-Aam |
There
are nine gateways on the way to the
main palace complex,. Diwani-I-Aam
or the hall of public audience appears
first. Akbar used to listen to all
the general problem of public here.The
royal ladies used to sit beside the
jali and to consult to him. As per
tradition, Akbar's pet elephant Hiran
used to be tied here to crush the
head of the guilty. |
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| Diwan-I-Khas |
At
the northern corner of diwan-i-aam
there is a small but grand single-storey
structure which is called Diwan-I-Khas
where Akbar used to talk to his ministers.Centre
of this place it is the famous Ibadat-Khana
where Akbar initiated to make a new
secular religion with all the goodnesses
of Hindu, Muslim, Jain, and Jesuit. |
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| Panch Mahal |
Panch
Mahal is a five storeyed building.It
is also called badgir, the Persian
type of wind tower for ladies of the
harem. The jail screens and the carved
pillars are now disappeared. Each
storey of the building are in different
style as per the choise and background
of the queens Jodha Bai, Mariyam and
Turkish sultana. On the top terraces
the royal ladies used to enjoy the
cool breezes and watching the view
of Sikri town. In the courtyard Akbar
used to play pachisi (checker board)
with the live oieces of dancing girls |
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| Jami
Masjid |
Jami
Masjid was the first structure to
be built in 1571. The interior is
full of gorgeous ornamentation in
the floral and geometrical patterns
with brown, red, turquoise, black
and white colors. The big courtyard
can accommodate ten thousand men at
prayer. Akbar was very enthusiastic
about this mosque that he occasionally
swept the floor and gave azan (call
for prayer).
Tomb
of Sheikh Salim Chisti Akbar
built the tomb in red sandstone after
eight years the saint died in 1572.
The jail screens carved out of huge
marble slabs shows a rare perfection
of craftsmanship. The real grave lies
in an undisturbed repose in the crypt
which is closed to visitors. Women
devotees come here and tie a colored
thread to the jails to get a child
and they even come back to give thanks
when their wish is fulfilled.
Buland
Darwaza Buland Darwaza is a
huge arch which was built in 1575
to celebrate Akbar's conquest of Gujarat.
The grand central arch is the most
magnificent of the entire range of
Mughal architecture in India. The
ornamentation with calligraphy contains
a famous line. "The world is but a
bridge, Pass over but build no houses
on it." |
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| Palaces
in the Harem |
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Abdul
Fazl who was Akbar's autobiographer
mentioned that there were nearly
5000 wives. Except that the
queens always brought a great
number of maids, dancers and
attendants with them. |
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Jodha
Bai who was the princess of Amber
and mother of Jehangir and the other
Rajput wives from Bikaner, Marwar,
Jaisalmer, Merta and Durgapur and
their companions used to live here
in the double storeyed pavilion. |
This
palace has some Hindu architectural
features like ornamental columns,
bells and chain motifs with heavy
brackets the wall for the deities
worshipped by Rajput ladies. The other
small and beautiful palace of Akbar's
mother, Hamida Banu Begun is there.
She was the most respected lady of
the harem. |
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