Agra

The night train from Varanasi (2nd class a/c 2 Tier) was quite comfortable, and worlds different from my previous train experience (general train, the lowest class of train in India). When I arrived in the station, I was faced with loads of people asking me where I am going, as expected. I just neglected them and went straight to the pre-paid auto-rickshaw booth. Auto-rickshaw is a 3-wheel motorized vehicle which is a popular form of transport in India. The price to my hotel was 105 INR, but I went out of the train station and took an auto-rickshaw for 60 INR. I have become quite a skilled haggler, though I don’t really like it. But it’s an essential skill here, especially in tourist havens like Agra!

My hotel was called Shah Jahan (name of the Mughal king who built Taj Mahal), situated at a stone’s throw of the Taj, and I paid 650 INR for a night. Like the other two hotels I’ve stayed so far, it didn’t have hot shower. But the cold water here is not that cold. Anyways, I went straight to Idgah bus terminal to take a bus to Fatehpur Sikri. The bus was supposed to come every 30 minutes or so, but it came after like 2 hours. Anyways, over there I met a Portuguese couple who were going to spend 2 weeks in India, and Agra was their second stop after Delhi. They were going to Varanasi afterwards, so I gave them the name of the hotel I stayed in. They were working in advertising and marketing sector; a different world from mine!

So we arrived in Fatehpur Sikri after 1h30, and upon exit LOADS of sellers and guides came towards us! Then I found out that my looking like Indians is a big deterrent of these people, though they still approach me in numbers. The other reason was that a “woman” was with us, who is potentially a much better buyer than a man! Anyways, to get rid of these constantly proposing guides, she took a guide for herself, and there we were kind of protected!

Fatehpur Sikri was built by Akbar the Great, one of the most powerful Mughal emperors, to relocate the capital from Agra. He is famous for his conquests, his religious tolerance, and his humongous harem! The guy should have been quite impressive, as he has accomplished so much in his reign. However, the newly built city was abandoned some 20 years or so afterwards, and the capital went back to Agra. The reason is not very clear. Some say it was because of shortage of water, which according to Rough Guide, is not that likely, or some say it was deserted because of Akbar’s conflicts in Punjab. Whatever the reason, it’s a fine piece of architecture, and it marks the height of Mughal empire.

Over there, all the names of different parts were in Persian, like Mardana (Men’s court), Zanana (Women’s court), Diwan-e-Am and Diwan-e-Khas (public and private places), and there were so many Persian poems carved into stones on the walls and on the gravestones. That’s because the language of Mughal’s courts was Persian, and I guess that’s why there are so many Persian words in Hindi. Fatehpur Sikri is a must-see attraction in Agra, though it is not even close to Taj Mahal in beauty! More will come.

Later on, we went back to Agra, and had a drink together in a restaurant with a view over Taj. Though to my disappointment, Taj is not lit during night, so its beauty is gone by night time. We said goodbye, as they were leaving to Varanasi that night. But we might cross each other’s path in Rajasthan!

The next morning, I got up at 5 AM to go and shoot Taj Mahal from the other side of the river Yamuna to get that famous reflection at the sunrise. The previous night, I met a guy from Basel and he told me that there is not much water, so you might not see any reflection. I was disheartened, but anyways, I got up to go and see if I can do anything about it. I don’t come to Taj Mahal often, so I need to do as much as I can. I took an auto-rickshaw to the other side of the river, and to my disappointment, the river was mostly dry. Although the Monsoon has finished around a month ago, but the water level has gone down significantly, leaving a large part of the river bed dry. I did try though, to go beside the water, but there were some policemen over there saying that it is forbidden to trespass the boundary of river. To my surprise, there were many locals on the river bed, and when I told the police, how come, they said locals can go! Not really nice. So I took some shots and came back. I saw a lot of villagers on the road, and I occasionally asked them for a photo, and they happily agreed! That was good!

Then I went to the Taj. First of all, I had to come back to the hotel, because they did not allow me to take my Gorillapod with me! I just had it because of that morning, and I had no reason to use it in Taj. But they didn’t understand it really. I wonder why they set such stupid laws! Do they think that if you have a tripod, you can make money from your shots, but if you don’t, you can’t??? I can’t think of a better reason, though this is total BS anyways! I believe the photographers are hugely discriminated and/or misjudged, due to the lack of education of the authorities. Another thing is the high price of entrance fee at 750 INR for foreigners, equivalent to 15 sfr! This is a lot, though everybody who comes here, definitely pays any price to see the Taj. I don’t like this kind of abuse.

Anyways, over there too, there are so many people asking if you want them to be your guide. I don’t like guides, because then you are not free to roam around as you like. The other thing is that their information may not be exactly accurate. Instead, I went and got myself an audioguide; something that I do everywhere possible. This also deters all chasing guides!

And then I entered the mausoleum. I know it’s obvious, but I have to say it: Taj Mahal is SO BEAUTIFUL! I found the quote of Tagore, the renowned Indian poet, describing it best: “A teardrop on the face of eternity!” I can firmly say that Taj Mahal is the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen in my life! No picture can depict the beauty of the Taj properly, and it should be seen by one’s own eyes to fully understand its grandeur and glory. And it couldn’t be better that the most beautiful building in the world is built for “love”!

So for those who haven’t heard the story: Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor, built this mausoleum as a memorial and tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died while giving birth to Shah Jahan’s fourteenth child at the age of 38. Shah Jahan had other wives too, but just out of political reasons, but his true and only love was Mumtaz Mahal. After her death, Shah Jahan became so heartsick and melancholic that he never got back to normal life. He was so preoccupied in building Taj Mahal that he spent an enormous fortune over it, till his not-so-well-regarded son, Aurangzeb, toppled him over and he spent his last years of life imprisoned in a palace. When he died, they buried him beside his beloved wife, to rest beside each other for eternity.

After visiting the Taj, I went back to hotel to check out, and then I went to visit the Agra Fort. Over there, due to a problem, I lost my ticket and did not go in at all. I went back to hotel and then I saw the people celebrating the Durga Puja festival in the streets. In this exuberant festival, every street and village makes a statue of the god Durga and her stories out of clay, and paints and dress it lavishly, then brings it to streets on a cart pulled by horses or oxen. Then there is a large crowd following it (first men, then women) with a very loud and happy music that the people dance with it like crazy! It’s not all though. The strangest thing is that they throw vivid colored powder to each other and everywhere and everyone is like a palette of paint! It’s very crazy! Boys dance like mad, and girls dance very fast (though normally separately, as I saw), and there’s a constant scattering of powders in the air, and at each other (watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNFJ0opAYcw).

They especially liked people with “clean” clothes, and even better, the tourists! Once, while taking pictures of them, one of them threw the powder at me, and the result, all my clothes and worse, MY CAMERA AND LENS were covered with colored powder!!! No need to describe my feeling back then! Another time the attack was even more severe, though this time my camera was secure. As a result, I ended up all colored up, without having a room to change. I had to get the train.

In the evening, I went to the train station. I arrived 1 hour sooner, but to my disappointment, the train was delayed for 2 hours. But actually the train came with 5 hours of delay and I arrived Jaipur at 4 AM!

In the end, Agra is all about Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is the most important attraction of India, and that’s for a reason: It’s the most beautiful building in the world. One should see this marvel of architecture by his own eyes to understand why.

Side notes:

• Everybody loves to be photographed in India! I have yet to see someone that when I ask for a photo, says no! It’s a photographer’s dream!
• Taj Mahal is so much photographed that it’s almost impossible to make an original photo. So the photos are just for report!

Update - See my photos of Durga Puja here:

And the photos of Agra here: