Delhi – Agra
Drive 220kms to Agra which is a very interesting 31/2 hours drive passing through
beautiful countryside and villages.
Visit the red sandstone Agra Fort, which stands like a crescent on the banks
of the Jamuna River enclosed by forbidding 20-meter high walls, with a 12- meter
moat between them. Three successive Mughal emperors - Akbar, Jehangir and Shah
Jehan - helped create this massive structure which contains Hindu and Muslim
architecture. Then proceed for the famous white marble mausoleum, which was
built in the middle of the 17th century by the Moghul emperor Shah Jehan for
his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Visit the Taj Mahal surely the greatest monument to love and one of the wonders
of the modern world. Completed in 1652, skilled craftsmen from Persia, Turkey,
France and Italy and some 20,000 labourers worked for 17 years to build this
edifice, constructed by emperor Shah Jehan as a mausoleum for his beloved queen
Mumtaz Mahal. Marble was brought from Makrana, near Jodhpur and precious stones
of onyx, amethyst, malachite, lapis lazuli, turquoise, jade, crystal and mother
of pearl were carried to Agra from Persia, Russia, Afghanistan, Tibet, China
and the Indian Ocean.
In the afternoon drive to the ancient Moghul capital of Fatehpur Sikri. It is
38 kms from Agra and often referred to as abandoned Moghul capital. This 16th
century capital of Moghul emperor Akbar is a complex of forts, palaces and mosques
built in sandstone. The city had to be deserted because of lack of water. The
white marble Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chisti, Akbar's spiritual adviser, is now
observed as a Muslim pilgrimage spot here.
