Places to visit in Agra

The splendor of Agra – India’s capital under the Mughals – stays undiminished, from the big fort to the magnificent Taj Mahal. Along with Delhi, 204km northwest, and Jaipur in Rajasthan, Agra is the third apex of the “Golden Triangle”, India’s maximum popular vacationer itinerary. Although it’s feasible to look at Agra on an afternoon trip from Delhi, the Taj deserves so much more – a fleeting visit could pass over the subtleties of its many moods, as the mild adjustments from sunrise to sundown – at the same time as the city’s other attractions and Fatehpur Sikri can without difficulty fill numerous days. Exploring the rich heritage of Uttar Pradesh, where history whispers through the winds, and culture dances in every corner.

Most of the city’s main Mughal monuments, including the Taj Mahal, are coated up alongside the banks of the Yamuna River, which bounds the metropolis’s jap aspect. They date from the later section of Mughal rule and the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan – exemplifying the ever-growing extravagance which, with the aid of Shah Jahan’s time, had already started to stress the imperial coffers and sow the seeds of political and army decline.

Where to live in Agra

Most financial travelers go to Taj Ganj, the jumble of slender lanes without delay south of the Taj. With their unrivaled rooftop perspectives and laidback cafés, the little guesthouses right here may be terrific locations to live, although checkout time is usually 10am. There are greater modern-day and upmarket lodgings along Fatehabad Rd, southwest of Taj Ganj, at the same time as the leafier Cantonment place and the adjacent Sadar Bazaar have locations to in shape every finances.

Where to devour in Agra

Agra is the home of Mughlai cooking, renowned for its rich cream- and curd-based sauces, observed with the aid of naan and tandoori bread roasted in earthen ovens, pulao rice dishes and milky goodies which includes kheer. Taj Ganj has innumerable scruffy little visitors’ cafés, even though requirements of hygiene are regularly suspect and the meals is generally uninspiring, with gradual carrier the norm. Taj Ganj’s saving grace is the rooftop cafés, many with first-class Taj views, which cap most of its homes. Local specialties of Agra encompass petha (crystallized pumpkin) – the nice is the Panchi logo, to be had at diverse stores all over town, especially inside the row of petha shops in Kinari Bazaar alongside the northeast aspect of the Jama Masjid (beyond Chimman Lal Puri Wale). Look out too for ghazal, a rock-tough candy with nuts, and Falmouth, a crunchy mix made with black lentils. Agra’s eating places – inclusive of even reputedly official locations – are not resistant to the epidemic of credit score-card fraud. It’s high-quality now not to pay using a credit card except within the metropolis’s five-star establishments, or, in case you do, to supervise the operation carefully.

Shopping in Agra

Agra is renowned for its marble tabletops, vases, and trays, inlaid with semi-treasured stones in ornate floral designs, in imitation of these located inside the Taj Mahal. It is likewise an excellent region to buy leather-based: Agra’s shoe enterprise supplies all of India, and its tanneries export bags, briefcases, and jackets. Carpets and dhurries are manufactured here too, and conventional embroidery continues to thrive. Zari and zardozi are brightly colored, the latter constructing three-dimensional styles with fantastic motifs; chikan uses more sensitive overlay techniques. Shopping or browsing in Kinari Bazaar and Sadar Bazaar is fun, however, be prepared to haggle; traveler emporiums are really worth averting. A lot of personal shops attempt to hide themselves to seem like kingdom-run “cottage” or “handloom” stores – an indication of their degree of integrity.

Credit-card fraud in Agra

Agra sees a huge quantity of credit-card fraud; be wary of ordering whatever is to be despatched overseas, by no means allow your credit card out of your sight, even for the transaction to be authorized, and make sure that every one documentation is filled in correctly and completely so as now not to permit unauthorized later additions. A listing of stores in opposition to whom complaints were lodged is maintained via the local police department. Remember that if you arrive at any save in a rickshaw or taxi, the expenses of something you buy may be inflated (and no longer by using just a little) to cover the motive force’s fee. If you’re planning on shopping, ask to be dropped off nearby, after which walk to the store (now not permitting your motive force to look wherein you're going).

Agra orientation

Clustered across the Taj, the tangled little streets of Taj Ganj are domestic to most of the town’s reasonably-priced lodging and backpacker cafés. A couple of kilometers to the west, at the long way side of the leafy Cantonment place, lies Sadar Bazaar, related to Taj Ganj via Fatehabad Road, in which you’ll find among the city’s smarter locations to live, in addition to numerous restaurants and crafts emporiums. Northwest of Taj Ganj lies Agra Fort and, past, the 1/3 of the town’s important commercial districts, Kinari Bazaar, centred at the massive Jama Masjid.

Agra Fort

The high red-sandstone ramparts of Agra Fort dominate a bend within the Yamuna River 2km northwest of the Taj Mahal. Akbar laid the foundations of this majestic castle, constructed between 1565 and 1573 in the shape of a half-moon, on the stays of earlier Rajput fortifications. The shape developed because the seat and stronghold of the Mughal Empire for successive generations: Akbar commissioned the partitions and gates, his grandson, Shah Jahan, had most of the foremost homes erected, and Aurangzeb, the closing awesome emperor, became responsible for the ramparts.

The curved sandstone bastions reach a top of over 20m and stretch for around 2.5km, punctuated by a sequence of large gates (even though only the Amar Singh Pol is presently open to visitors). The unique and grandest front comes through the western side, via the Delhi Gate and Hathi Pol or “Elephant Gate” (closed to the general public), now flanked by purple-sandstone towers faced in marble, however as soon as guarded through tremendous stone elephants with riders which were destroyed with the aid of Aurangzeb in 1668. Access to this and to a good deal of the castle is confined, and the ones elements open to the public are defined right here.

Sound-and-mild show

Every night after sundown (in English at 7pm in wintry weather, 8.15pm or 8.30pm in summer time), a legitimate-and-light show takes area at Agra Fort in front of the Diwan-i-Am. The display lasts an hour, all through which time lights play on diverse elements of the castle as an observation takes you through the records of the terrific Mughals. It’s amusing, however not anything superb. Tickets may be sold at the gate.

Diwan-i-Am and the top-notch courtyard

Entrance to the citadel is through the Amar Singh Pol, truly three separate gates placed close together and at right angles to each other to disorientate any potential attackers and to deprive them of the space in which to use battering guns against the fortifications. From right here a ramp climbs gently uphill flanked using excessive partitions (any other defensive degree), through a second gate to the spacious courtyard, with tree-studded lawns, which surrounds the sleek Diwan-i-Am (“Hall of Public Audience”). Open on three sides, the pillared hall, which replaced an earlier wood structure, turned into commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1628. The elegance of the setting might have been more desirable via the addition of brocade, carpets, and satin canopies for audiences with the emperor.

The royal pavilions

Heading through the small door to the left of the throne alcove within the Diwan-i-Am and climbing the stairs past brings you out onto the top level of the Macchi Bhavan (Fish Palace), a massive but incredibly simple-storey shape overlooking a spacious, grassy courtyard. This became as soon as strewn with fountains and flowerbeds, interspersed with tanks and water channels stocked with fish on which the emperor and his courtiers might guide their angling capabilities. However, the maharaja of Bharatpur ultimately eliminated some of its marble furniture to his palace in Deeg. William Bentinck (governor general from 1828 to 1835) auctioned off lots of the palace’s original mosaics and fretwork.

Nagina Masjid

On the north aspect of the courtyard (to the left as you enter) a small door ends in the wonderful little Nagina Masjid (Gem Mosque), made entirely of marble. Capped with three domes and approached from a marble-paved courtyard, it was commissioned using Shah Jahan for the women of the zenana (harem). At the rear at the proper, a small balcony with beautifully carved lattice displays gives a discreet standpoint from where contributors of the harem were capable of investigate luxury goods – silks, jewellery and brocade – laid out on the market by way of traders inside the courtyard beneath, without themselves being visible.

The raised terrace on the far aspect of the Macchi Bhavan is adorned through two thrones, one black slate, the other white marble. The white one became utilized by Shah Jahan, the black one by the future emperor Jahangir to look at elephant fights inside the jap enclosure. It now serves, particularly much less gloriously, as a favoured perch for couples posing for pictures in opposition to the backdrop of the distant Taj.

Diwan-i-Khas

To your proper (as you face the river), a high terrace overlooking the Yamuna is crowned with a chain of lavish royal flats designed to catch the cool breezes blowing across the waters underneath. The first is the sensitive Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), erected in 1635, wherein the emperor might have obtained kings, dignitaries and ambassadors, and is one of the most finely adorned buildings inside the citadel, with paired marble pillars and peacock arches inlaid with lapis lazuli and jasper.

Mina Masjid

A passageway in the back of the Diwan-i-Khas results in the tiny Mina Masjid, a undeniable white marble mosque built for Shah Jahan and historically stated to were used by him in the course of his imprisonment right here.

Musamman Burj

Beyond, the passageway leads to a two-storey pavilion known as the Musamman Burj, well-known because the spot where he is stated to have caught his final glimpse of the Taj Mahal before he died, and the most elaborately adorned structure in the citadel. Its lattice-screen balustrade is dotted with ornamental niches and with outstanding pietra dura inlay masking nearly each floor. In the front of the tower a courtyard, paved with marble octagons, centres on a pachisi board in which the emperor, following his father’s instance at Fatehpur Sikri, performed pachisi (a shape of ludo) the usage of dancing ladies as portions.

Anguri Bagh

Beyond the Musamman Burj, every other large courtyard, the Anguri Bagh (Grape Garden), is a miniature charbagh, its east facet flanked via the marble building known as Khas Mahal (Private Palace), probable a drawing room or the emperor’s slumbering chamber. The palace is flanked by two so-known as Golden Pavilions, their curved roofs included with gilded copper tiles in a style stimulated by the thatched roofs of Bengali village huts.

In front of the Khas Mahal, steps descend into the northeast nook of the Anguri Bagh and the Shish Mahal (Glass Palace), in which royal women bathed in the soft lamplight reflected from the mirror-paintings mosaics that blanketed the walls and ceiling; the building is currently locked, so that you can most effective peek in via the windows.

The Jahangiri Mahal

South of the Khas Mahal lies the huge Jahangiri Mahal (Jahangir’s Palace), even though the name is misleading since it became simply built for Jahangir’s father, Akbar, and in all likelihood served not as a royal palace, but as a harem. Compared to the classic Mughal designs of the encircling homes, this sturdy sandstone shape has pretty a few Hindu elements combined up with traditional Mughal and Islamic motifs.

From the vital courtyard, a gateway leads out through the main gateway into the palace, whose fantastic facade suggests a characteristic blend of Mughal and Indian motifs, with Islamic pointed arches and inlaid mosaics blended with Hindu-fashion overhanging eaves supported via heavily carved brackets. Immediately in front of the palace sits Jahangir’s Hauz (Jahangir’s Cistern), a massive bowl with steps interior and out, made in 1611 from a unmarried block of porphyry and inscribed in Persian. Filled with rosewater, it'd were used by the emperor as a bath, and it’s also believed that the emperor took it with him on his travels across the empire – even though it appears hard to credit score this, given the bath’s size and weight.

Akbar’s mausoleum

Given the Mughal way of life of spectacular tombs, it's far no surprise that the mausoleum of the maximum prominent Mughal ruler was one of the boldest structures of its time. Akbar’s mausoleum is entered via its large Buland Darwaza (Great Gate), surmounted with the aid of 4 marble minarets, and overlaid with marble and colored tiles in repetitive geometrical styles, bearing the Koranic inscription “These are the gardens of Eden, input them and live forever”. Through the gateway, extensive, park-like gardens are divided using pleasant raised sandstone walkways into the 4 identical quadrants of the everyday Mughal char bagh design. Langur monkeys may be seen alongside the direction, while deer roam through the tall grasses, simply as they do inside the Mughal miniature paintings relationship from the era when the tomb turned into constructed, lending the whole area a magically non-violent and rural atmosphere.

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