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Published: March 4th 2008
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Feb 29, 2008
Today was a long 6 hours drive to Agra. I enjoyed the countryside and the experience of seeing the local towns and villages along the way, but the drive was very long on a road that appears to be under a continual state of construction. With the “no rules” driving in most of India it is quite an adventure in itself just to take a drive in the country.
Arrived safe and sound in Agra after a visit to Fatehpur Sikri, a deserted sandstone city that was built to be the capital of the ruling empire in the late 16th century. Water problems eventually led to the capital being moved back to Agra and the city was basically uninhabited ever since. The government has done a lot of renovations and restoration and it is a very nice place to visit. This city was larger than London at the time it was built and had Mosques, Hindu Temples and the palace for the rulers of the day. It was really quite unbelievable what these guys could do with the power they had.
March 1, 2008
Agra. Today we got up before the sun to arrive
at the famous Taj Mahal for sunrise. This is really a spectacular place and hard to describe. It is really worth the trip to see the Taj as it is all it’s made out to be. The Taj was built in the 17th century of white marble, beautiful stone carvings and the finest workmanship throughout and almost complete symmetry throughout the construction, and all built as a memorial to a wife who had passed away. She must have been quite a lady !!
We spent a few hours here and took way too many pictures of the Taj Mahal and the on-site Mosque and twin “Guest House” . A lot of tourists here from all over the world. For the most part they have done a very good job of maintaining the Taj and keeping everything looking as it was when it was built.
The rest of the day in Agra was spent visiting yet another fort, Agra Fort. This was the stronghold of many Mogul Emperors and the home of the Akbar who started the construction. Today much of the fort is used by the Indian Military.
It is very evident that up to a few years,
ago and for a couple of thousand years before, the common people spent a lot of their time and efforts looking after the wants and needs of the Mogul Emperors and the many Maharajas and their families. What time wasn’t spent building forts, memorials and Temples and fighting wars and /or defending themselves was spent trying to eke out a meager living off this land.
For the vast majority of India the Hindu Religion is a very big part of the culture, and has been for thousands of years and much of their time in the past has been spent fighting off religious, and cultural, opposition from the Persian Moguls and Muslims. There appears to be little tension in this regard in India now as all parties are more or less tolerant of each others' beliefs. There are Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and Muslim communities active in India. And a very interesting, and to say the least confusing, set of rules and beliefs for most of the people.
Tonight our local guide joined us for a very nice dinner at a typical restaurant and we enjoyed some Mogul style food.
Tomorrow is another day with a trip
to Jhansi, by train, and by car to Khajuraho.
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