Blogs from Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 156

Agra Fort sits on the western bank of the river Yamuna, across from, and in clear view of the Taj Mahal. It is arguably the oldest fort in India; references to it exist as far back as 1080AD. It was from here that the Sultans of Delhi yielded, in 1526, to the Mughals, who dominated the Indian scene until 1761. Mughal Emperors controlled much of India out of Agra Fort: Babur, Humayan, Akbar, probably the best known, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, he of the Taj , and Aurangzeb, pretty brutal kind of ruler. Two local protagonists, the Jats and the Marathas, took turns at commanding it until 1803, when the British took and held it, until the birth of the modern Indian State in 1947. It is fair to say the medieval history of India was writ ... read more

The Taj Mahal was built over a period of twenty-two years, ending 1663, by the fifth Mughal ruler, Shah Jahan, as a token of un-abiding love; and in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who passed on birthing their fourteenth child. Both Shah and Mumtaz lay in rest at Taj. I saw Taj and she is simply lovely. I do not mean that she is a lovely building, or edifice or structure; I mean that she is, existentially, in her being, lovely. In the gentle curves of the graceful domes from whence come her smiles; in her upright bearing and striking stance; in the decorative turrets, cupolas and pinnacles that adorn her; in all of these, as a piece, she is just so lovely. True, up close, she is cast in the finest white marble, from ... read more

For some reasons airports fascinate me, and I don’t think I am alone in this feeling either. For me, airports are usually associated with adventure, however when I went to the airport to leave for Croatia that adventure was greatly overcome by sadness. Saying goodbye to my life in Australia was a lot harder than I thought and very different from when I had to say goodbye to home. The thing is, in North Carolina, I knew that whatever happened I would always come back, and things would most likely return to normal. However, this is not the case in Australia, and I think that is what made it so hard. I was very blessed that in such a short time to have made so many close friends, and I know they have been what has ... read more

Today was with Buddha at Sarnath, on the outskirts of Varanasi, where he delivered his first sermon, “The Foundation of Righteousness, circa 525BC. After clearing the bowels of Old Varanasi, it was onto Sarnath in the hands of a skillful auto rickshaw driver. First, negotiating the mad crush of morning traffic in New, or rather, Less-Old Varanasi; then bouncing along, on some seriously bumpy roads, over iffy-looking bridges, that span kilometers of heavily silted rivers, almost devoid of water pending the next monsoon season. We began our visit, on the site dedicated to all things Buddha, at the Sri Lankan Mahabodhi Temple, that holds relics of the great man found in Pakistan, pre-partition. The walls of this temple also display a series of frescoes depicting his life. The abbreviated version of what is shown says: born ... read more

Well as mentioned before - no more champagne backpacking for us as we no longer have a personal driver and as we arrive at Agra train station, come back British Rail - all is forgiven, well almost everything, the only plus side is I cant see any train spotters with their thermos flasks and cheese and pickle sandwiches… After a wee wait our train eventually arrives, well we hope it’s our train as we nearly got on the last one that was on the same platform. To be honest when we arrive at our bunks it’s not as bad as I thought it would be - a little cramped maybe but not too shabby. During the night we managed to get a little sleep but not exactly the standard eight hours as we were a wee ... read more