21 February 2014 / leggypeggy

Exploring the glorious Red Fort of Agra

Agra and its surrounds are a major destination for tourists visiting India, with three sites that belong at the top of the must-see list.

For starters, there’s the magnificent white marble Taj Mahal, just up the road is the impressive ‘ghost town’ of Fatehpur Sikri, and finally comes the Red Fort of Agra.

Poor John and I first visited the Taj Mahal in the early 1980s, but we have absolutely no memory of visiting the other two places. It’s good I didn’t know what we missed back then or I might have been crabby all these years.

Looking left

Looking right

This time round, the fort was our third stop of the day. We arrived soon after a late lunch at a restaurant with white tablecloths, fancy cutlery, high prices and food nowhere near as good as we had been getting at various holes-in-the-wall.

But the fort more than made up for the so-so meal.

Inside Agra Fort

The place is ginormous. In fact, its overwhelming size was the main reminder to Poor John and me that we’d never been there before. How could we not remember this massive structure of red sandstone and other impressive buildings?

Anguri Bagh gardens with side buildings

With 94 acres enclosed by 2.5 kilometres of exterior walls, this powerful fortress was the imperial city of the Mughal rulers and is considered the most important fort in all of India.

Not surprisingly, it’s filled with fairy-tale palaces, large audience halls and reception rooms, open-air courtyards and two mosques. It has a semi-circular layout and is surrounded by a moat.

Emperor Akbar founded the fort in the mid-16th century on the right bank of the Yamuna River. It’s on the northwest extremity of the gardens that surround the Taj.

Like the Delhi Fort (which we’ll visit later), the Agra Fort displays the grandeur of the Mughals under the reigns of emperors Akbar, Jahangir (sometime spelt Jehangir) and Shan Jahan.

While the fort has two gates, today’s visitors must enter through the Amar Singh Gate, also known as the Lahore Gate and originally as the Akbar Gate. There were two more gates that have been bricked up.

Even though I went through the main gate, I’m still not sure how many parts it actually has because we went through a series of magnificent and highly decorated openings, so the gate may be more than one structure. I’ve grouped the entry photos above and hope that maybe someone else can explain what’s what.

That said, from the moment I actually entered the fort, I was struck by its beauty, craftsmanship, detail, views and magnitude. Ancient records show that as many as 500 buildings were constructed within the fort. Shan Jahan demolished some so he could build marble structures, but the British destroyed many in the 1800s to make room for their military barracks. Today about 30 marble and sandstone structures survive.

Jahangir Palace

Looking left

Looking right

Hauz-i-Jahangiri carvings

Hauz-i-Jahangiri

Jahangir Mahal is the biggie that caught my eye from the outset. Considered the most notable building still standing, the palace was the domain of royal women, especially the Rajput wives of Emperor Akbar. I’ve tried to find details about just how big this palace is, but no luck so far.

A huge bowl sits in front of women’s palace. Known as Hauz-i-Jahangiri, this bowl was carved from a single piece of stone, and used for bathing and holding fragrant rose water. I did find some statistics about it—on a marble plaque placed beside the bowl itself. Jahangiri had the bowl created in 1610. It measures five feet high, eight feet in diameter and 25 feet in circumference at the rim.

There are stairs inside and out, along with 10 carved cartouches on the outer rim. It also has five couplets, of which two are still readable. Luckily these two give the bowl’s name and its date of construction.

Khas Mahal with the Anguri Bagh gardens

Pavilion carvings

Pavilion interior

Looking into the gardens

Khas Mahal is a second white marble palace. It overlooks the river on one side and the extensive and lush geometric Anguri Bagh (gardens) on the other. Shah Jahan had the palace started in 1631 for his daughters, Jahanara and Roshanara.

There are two almost identical pavilions either side of the Khas Mahal’s central hall. These red sandstone structures have been plastered with white shell plaster and have some gold work in their mural paintings. The interiors are profusely decorated with floral and geometrical patterns.

Diwan-i-Am

Another impressive white marble structure is the Diwan-i-Am or Hall of Audience. It was where aristocracy and the public met and communicated. It once housed the fabulous peacock throne.

Then there is the private audience hall—the Diwan-i-Khas—where kings and other dignitaries were welcomed. Amazingly, I don’t seem to have a single pic of the hall, although I remember it clearly. Here are some pics by others.

But the most poignant building has to be the Musamman Burj, a large octagonal tower. Emperor Akbar had it built in 1632 as a place where he could give his daily public address, jharokha darshan, as he carried out his sun worship. It is said that he governed the whole country from the balcony, which faces the Taj Mahal.

Shah Jahan’s view from Musamman Burj

Overlooking the river

Musamman Burj balcony

The sadness comes with Shah Jahan, who built the Taj. His son, Aurangzeb, imprisoned his father in the Musamman Burj. You have to give those Mughal kids credit for being ruthless to kith and kin. Shah Jahan spent the last eight years of his life there, gazing at the tomb of his beloved and departed wife. Heartbreaking, but at least he was in luxurious surroundings. When he died, his body was taken to the Taj by boat and buried. Unfortunately the public is not allowed to enter the Musamman Burj.

I’m so glad we got to the fort this visit. Frankly, I would be happy to visit again and again and again. It’s that good. UNESCO feels the same way. In 1983—two years after my first visit to Agra—they declared the fort a world heritage site.

I’ll finish off this post by sharing some images of the sandstone and other carved parts of the fort. I admit that I can’t accurately identify all the locations, but I love the architecture and designs.

And I’d love it if you’d take a moment to check out my cooking blog.