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| AGRA TRAVEL GUIDE Agra is a city on banks of the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh. It finds mention in the epic Mahabharata when it was called Agrabana, or Paradise. Ptolemy, the famous second century A.D. geographer, marked it on his map of the world as Agra. Tradition and legend ascribe the present city of Raja Badal Singh (around 1475 A.D.) whose Fort, Badalgarh, Stood on or near the site of the present Fort. However, the 12th century A.D. Persian poet Salman writes of a desperate assault on the fortress of Agra, then held by one King Jaipal, by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. [1] It was ruled by Sultan Sikandar Lodi in the year 1506. It achieved fame as the capital of the Mughal emperors from 1526 to 1658 and remains a major tourist destination because of its many splendid Mughal-era buildings, most notably the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, all three of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Agra is a medieval city situated on the banks of the river Yamuna. It is generally accepted that Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the Ruler of Delhi Sultanate founded it in the year 1504. After the sultan's death the city passed on to his son Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. He ruled his Sultanate from Agra until he fell fighting to Babur in the First battle of Panipat fought in 1526. The golden age of the city began with the Mughals. It was known then as Akbarabad and remained the capital of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan later shifted his capital to Shahjahanabad in the year 1649. Since Akbarabad was one of the most important cities in India under the Mughals, it witnessed a lot of building activity. Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty laid out the first formal Persian garden on the banks of river Yamuna. The garden is called the Aram Bagh or the Garden of Relaxation. His grandson Akbar raised the towering ramparts of the Great Red Fort besides making Agra a center for learning arts, commerce and religion. Akbar also built a new city on the outskirts of Akbarabad called Fatehpur Sikri. This city was built in the form of a Mughal military camp in stone. His son Jahangir had a love of gardens and flora and fauna and laid many gardens inside the Red Fort or Laal Kila. Shah Jahan known for his keen interest in architecture gave Akbarabad its most prized monument, The Taj Mahal. Built in loving memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the mausoleum was completed in 1648. Shah Jahan later shifted the capital to Delhi during his reign, but this son Aurangzeb shifted the capital back to Akbarabad and had his father imprisoned in the Fort there. Akbarabad remained capital of India during the rule of Aurangzeb until he shifted it to Aurangabad in the Deccan in 1653. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the city came under the influence of Marathas and Jats and was called Agra, before falling into the hands of the British Raj in 1803. GENERAL INFORMATION Time zone IST (UTC+5:30) Elevation 171 m (561 ft) District(s) Agra Population 1,400,000 (2001) PLACE TO VISIT Taj Mahal - The Taj Mahal is an immense mausoleum of white marble, built between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife. Taj Mahal means "Crown Palace"; one of the wife's names was Mumtaz Mahal, "Ornament of the Palace". The Taj is one of the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tombs in the world, one of the masterpieces of Indian Muslim architecture, and one of the great sites of the world's heritage. The Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore called it "a teardrop on the cheek of eternity", while the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, said it was "Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones." It is a celebration of woman built in marble and that’s the way to appreciate it. Agra Fort - The fort is similar in layout to the Red Fort in Delhi, but considerably better preserved, as much of Delhi Fort was razed by the British after the Mutiny. As much as palace as a defensive structure, it is also constructed mainly from red sandstone. Emperor Akbar, king at 14, began consolidating his empire and, as an assertion of his power built the fort in Agra between 1565 and 1571, at the same time as Humayun's Tomb in Delhi. Emperor Shah Jahan added to the fort and ended up a prisoner in it. The fort has a beautiful view of his masterpiece, the Taj Mahal, on a clear day. Akbar's Tomb - Sikandra (10 km north of Agra on the Agra Delhi highway). The tomb of Akbar lies here in the centre of the large garden. Akbar started its construction himself but it was completed by his son, Jehangir who significantly modified the original plans which accounts for the somewhat cluttered architectural lines of the tomb. Four red sandstone's gates lead to the tomb complex: one is Muslim, one Hindu, one christian and one is Akbar's patent mixture. Akbar's mausoleum is open from sunrise to sunset. Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb -. Empress Nur Jehan built Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb, sometimes called the Baby Taj, for her father, Ghias-ud-Din Beg, the Chief Minister of Emperor Jahangir. Small in comparison to many other Mughal-era tombs, it is sometimes described as a jewel box. Its garden layout and use of white marble, pietra dura, inlay designs and latticework presage many elements of the Taj Mahal. Mariam's Tomb - west from Akbar's Tomb on Agra-Delhi highway. Constructed by Jahangir in the memory of his mother Mariam Zammani a title bestowed upon her,. The grave is made of white marble. Though this building is in a ruined condition, yet it has in its vicinity, a Christian Mission School and a church. It is also said; Akbar himself made that it in the memory of his Christian wife. Jama Masjid - A large mosque attributed to Princess Jahanara Begum, built in 1648 during the reign of the father Shah Jahan. Notable for its unusual dome and absence of minarets. Chini Ka Rauza - A memorial dedicated to the Prime Minister of Shah Jahan, Allama Afzel Khal Mullah Shukrullah of Shiraz, notable for its dome of blue glazed tiles. Fatehpur Sikri - The Mughal Emperor Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri about 35 km from Agra, and moved his capital there. Later abandoned, the site displays a number of buildings of significant historical importance. A World Heritage Site, it is often visited by tourists to Agra. HOW TO REACH Agra is 200 km from New Delhi and is one of the points of the tourist's Golden Triangle of Agra-Delhi-Jaipur. Agra is also very well connected via rail and road with other nearby cities and tourist destinations. By plane - As of February 2007, there are no scheduled services to Agra's airport. By train - Agra Cantt is the main railway station and lies southwest of the Taj and Agra Fort. The station is very close to both Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. There are frequent trains to Delhi as well as other parts of the country. There's a prepaid taxi stand right outside that charges a flat Rs.120 to any hotel in the city. Agra Fort railway station is right next to the Agra Fort, but is infrequently serviced by the interstate express trains. But you will find trains to eastern part of the country (Kanpur, Kolkatta, Gorakhpur etc) from here. There is another station by the name of Raja Ki Mandi which is in the heart of the City. Many trains go from Delhi to Agra, with a journey time of 2 hours 10 mins. The best of them is the Shatbadi express, the fastest train in India. The journey to Jaipur takes around 4 hour by train no. 2988 which leaves Agra Fort Railway Station at 6:25 PM and reaches Jaipur at around 10:20PM. There is also a special luxurious tourist train - 'Palace on Wheels' from New Delhi which covers Jaipur, parts of Rajasthan and Agra. By bus - A number of buses connect Agra with New Delhi. It takes around 4-5 hours to reach Agra by bus. There are basically three interstate bus stands: * Idgah Bus Stand is the primary bus stand for intercity travel, in the heart of the city, 8 km from the Taj. * Bijlighar Bus stand located near the Red Fort, 6 km from the Taj. * New Bus Stand at transport nagar, 12 km from the Taj, is only for other state's bus services (i.e. all except U.P. Roadways). |