Monuments in and around Agra

Monuments in and around Agra
19 January 2002

Prithvi Haldea was shocked to discover that we hadn't yet seen the monuments of Agra, so Gautam Bhardwaj and he put together a weekend trip to Agra.

Prithvi and Gautam at a restaurant on the way

In the town of Agra, Prithvi recommended Deviram as an ideal place to have rabdi. The place is slightly hard to find but well worth it.

The wares at Deviram

Akbar's tomb at Sikandra

Our first stop was at Akbar's tomb at Sikandra. As the Archeological Survey of India says, this monument is filled with a sense of space and quiet, two virtues that are hard to find in a land teeming with a billion people. They say `It is an elegy, and not a lyric'. Somber, they say, a reflection of Akbar's personality.

At each of the monuments in the Agra region, there are guides who will offer to show you around. In general, this is not a bad idea. Their tales are fanciful and should be taken with a pinch of salt, but it's good to have them.

The tomb is home to many animals: monkeys, blackbuck, peacocks, etc. Of course, legend has it that these animals and their ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years.

Monkeys at the entrance of Sikandra

On the outer perimeter is this little structure, which is just a gate, after which the inner complex starts.

Looking back at the gate of entry

The inner mausoleum itself

Looking back at entrance

Monkeys

One of the arches

Platform of mausoleum

They knew how to build to sheer geometric perfection

Susan deep inside arches

Nested arches

Blackbuck

The monuments of Agra all have nontrivial structures on the sides.

Structures on the side

The Taj Mahal

Next, we turn to the tomb of Akbar's grandson's wife.

I had heard about it all my life. But actually seeing it was breathtaking. It is truly amazing. Upon landing there I kept taking myriad pictures, trying to comprehend what they had done.

Contary to my visions of it, it is not pure white marble.

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal

The light and the exposure matter greatly. Does it look like this?

Taj Mahal

... or like this?

Taj Mahal

... or like this?

Taj Mahal

While we were there, restoration work was in progress. The staff climb this scaffolding, and wipe the surface with soaped sponge.

Scaffolding for scrubbing the Taj

Restoration staff scrubbing the Taj

A corner

The corner looks mundane, but there is a very interesting pattern of tiles with inlaid marble.

Tiles on floor of outer platform

There are hundreds of metres of these marble walls with intricate carvings.

Marble carvings on walls

Here you see the inlay-work on the border, which is used to frame the carving.

Marble carvings on walls

Marble carvings on wall

You must have seen the minarets at the edge of the Taj. This is the minaret at the far left. It is an incredible structure when seen up close also.

Minaret at the edge

Right behind the Taj is the Yamuna.

Yamuna

In the Agra region, the ruins of the Mughal era are thrown around in the oddest places.

Boatman across the Yamuna

Yamuna and boatman

The rear of the Taj

Minaret and raptor

There is sheer perfection in how this marble work has been uniformly done all around the monument. This picture is taken at the rear.

Cold feet

And this picture was taken all around the monument, at the front, in the sunlight.

Warm feet

Inlay work and me

Inlay work and me

Structures at the side of the Taj

Exit

The Agra Fort

Our next stop after the Taj Mahal was the Agra fort. This is an extremely impressive structure.

One big mistake which is taking place at some of the monuments is a relic of the British occupation, where the British army displaced local kings at the forts. So when we visited, a substantial fraction of the Agra fort was used by the Indian army. I believe that in the Delhi fort, the army has recently handed over the entire space to the Archeological Survey of India. That should happen at Agra also.

Here you see the outer rampart of the fort. Legend has it that the attacker would have to get past lions and tigers in this space.

Outer rampart

The Agra red fort is not merely a functional implementation of a rugged fort which would be hard to attack. They also had beauty on their minds.

Inner walls

Looking up at the inner wall

First courtyard

Hawa mahal

Here again, you see how difficult it would be to attack these high walls, and how they have treated them as a canvas for doing beautiful things.

Elephants on fort walls

Aastha at Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal

Shah Jahan's prison

Hawa Mahal

Stone grill

The guides said that this was where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by Aurangzeb. Here Prithvi tries to look at the Taj and feel what Shah Jahan must have felt.

Prithvi playing Shah Jahan

Floor of the fountain

Me trying to make bedroom eyes

This was 'Diwan e khas', the meeting place of the high and mighty. Susan felt it was a place where you could rule the world.

Rule the world

'Diwan e am', the meeting place for the plebians.

Diwan e am

Itmad ud daulah

It is said that the Mughals began like Titans and finished like jewellers. That sense of perfection in finishing is best found at Itmad ud daulah, which was built before the Taj. If you go through the monuments in chronological order, you can see the teams trying out ideas, and building on their successes from one project to the next.

Itmad ud daulah does things with inlay work which are not seen anywhere else. Here you see curved marble surfaces with intricate inlay work.

Frontiers in inlay work

Arch with inlay work

Contrast this with the comparable scene at Akbar's tomb.

Looking back at the entrance

Itmad ud daulah is a riot of inlay work. It is striking to see how they stepped back from this level of inlay work for the Taj.

Inlaid wall

The gaping sockets in the wall are where jewels once lay.

Inlaid walls

Inlaid walls

Side view of the monument

Corner view of the monument

Yamuna gate

Looking back at the monument from the Yamuna gate

Inlay work on minaret

The Radhaswamy temple

Over 100 years ago, a mad cult decided that they were going to build a temple more beautiful than the Taj Mahal.

I like the notion of anyone even trying this.

So, for over 100 years, they have been hard at work at this. Every few decades, they have taken stock of what has been done, decided it wasn't good enough, torn it down, and started over.

This is a rare opportunity to see local craftsmen working the marble.

Worker at Radhaswamy temple

Worker at Radhaswamy temple

In terms of sheer detail, and perfection in the small, they do seem to be ahead of the Taj!

Marble flowers

Arches

You don't find this kind of detail at the Taj. :-)

Creeping vine in marble

Took an artifact back

At a small shop outside the Taj, I got seduced by a simple marble box with inlay work on it. After having visited these places, such simple artifacts come to life. I guess the ancestors of the people who made this little thing are the people who made these monuments.

Artifact

Artifact

Artifact

Artifact

Artifact

Overall

A few suggestions

It's a great trip. It makes sense to definitely plan on visiting the above five places: Akbar's tomb at Sikandra, the Taj Mahal, Itmad-ud-daulah, the Agra fort, and the Radhasamy temple. It helps to have read a lot of history books ahead of time.

Ajay Shah
ajayshah at mayin dot org

Prithvi Haldea was shocked to discover that we hadn't yet seen the monuments of Agra, so Gautam Bhardwaj and he put together a weekend trip to Agra.
	Prithvi and Gautam at a restaurant on the way

In the town of Agra, Prithvi recommended Deviram as an ideal place to have rabdi. The place is slightly hard to find but well worth it.
	The wares at Deviram

The tomb is home to many animals: monkeys, blackbuck, peacocks, etc. Of course, legend has it that these animals and their ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years.
	Monkeys at the entrance of Sikandra

On the outer perimeter is this little structure, which is just a gate, after which the inner complex starts.
	Looking back at the gate of entry

They knew how to build to sheer geometric perfection
	Susan deep inside arches

The monuments of Agra all have nontrivial structures on the sides.
	Structures on the side

Contary to my visions of it, it is not pure white marble.
	Taj Mahal

The light and the exposure matter greatly. Does it look like this?
	Taj Mahal

While we were there, restoration work was in progress. The staff climb this scaffolding, and wipe the surface with soaped sponge.
	Scaffolding for scrubbing the Taj

The corner looks mundane, but there is a very interesting pattern of tiles with inlaid marble.
	Tiles on floor of outer platform

There are hundreds of metres of these marble walls with intricate carvings.
	Marble carvings on walls

Here you see the inlay-work on the border, which is used to frame the carving.
	Marble carvings on walls

You must have seen the minarets at the edge of the Taj. This is the minaret at the far left. It is an incredible structure when seen up close also.
	Minaret at the edge

In the Agra region, the ruins of the Mughal era are thrown around in the oddest places.
	Boatman across the Yamuna

There is sheer perfection in how this marble work has been uniformly done all around the monument. This picture is taken at the rear.
	Cold feet

And this picture was taken all around the monument, at the front, in the sunlight.
	Warm feet

Here you see the outer rampart of the fort. Legend has it that the attacker would have to get past lions and tigers in this space.
	Outer rampart

The Agra red fort is not merely a functional implementation of a rugged fort which would be hard to attack. They also had beauty on their minds.
	Inner walls

Here again, you see how difficult it would be to attack these high walls, and how they have treated them as a canvas for doing beautiful things.
	Elephants on fort walls

The guides said that this was where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by Aurangzeb. Here Prithvi tries to look at the Taj and feel what Shah Jahan must have felt.
	Prithvi playing Shah Jahan

Monuments in and around Agra 19 January 2002

Akbar's tomb at Sikandra

The Taj Mahal

The Agra Fort

Itmad ud daulah

The Radhaswamy temple

Took an artifact back

Overall

A few suggestions

Monuments in and around Agra
19 January 2002

This was 'Diwan e khas', the meeting place of the high and mighty. Susan felt it was a place where you could rule the world.
	Rule the world

'Diwan e am', the meeting place for the plebians.
	Diwan e am

Itmad ud daulah does things with inlay work which are not seen anywhere else. Here you see curved marble surfaces with intricate inlay work.
	Frontiers in inlay work

Contrast this with the comparable scene at Akbar's tomb.
	Looking back at the entrance

Itmad ud daulah is a riot of inlay work. It is striking to see how they stepped back from this level of inlay work for the Taj.
	Inlaid wall

The gaping sockets in the wall are where jewels once lay.
	Inlaid walls

This is a rare opportunity to see local craftsmen working the marble.
	Worker at Radhaswamy temple

In terms of sheer detail, and perfection in the small, they do seem to be ahead of the Taj!
	Marble flowers

You don't find this kind of detail at the Taj. :-)
	Creeping vine in marble