India 2012

Monday19November

New day, and it's symbolic because we're leaving the state of Rajasthan!   And today we're excited because this afternoon we'll be in Agra at the Taj Mahal! But patience, for this morning we are in Fatehpur Sikri, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986.

This ancient city was started under the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1572 and abandoned 15 years later due to a severe water shortage.

The Hall of Private Audiences, Diwan-i-Khas, and its singular column supporting the central balcony.

Detail of the carving of the Diwan-i-Khas pillar.

Small rooms where decorative paintings cover walls and ceilings

The camel stables.

The blue roofs of Jodh Bai's palace where Akbar's wife resided.

A small botanical and taxonomic break...

But I couldn't put a name to these flowers... You can help me by leaving a comment on the photos! 

Him, I know well, it's the palm squirrel (funambulus pennantii) that we encounter almost every day.

There are even several of them... Enjoy! Squirrels kissing each other isn't common! (unless they're discreetly passing a nut to each other???) doubt.gif

This great mosque (the largest in India), also located in the city of Fatehpur Sikri, was erected by Shah Jahan. He was the head of the Mughal Empire and partly practiced the Muslim religion. He also had the Taj Mahal built!

Tombs "dressed" in shrouds and petals line the main square

Inside, too, tombs are arranged.

The tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti. He was a very close advisor to Akbar, considered a saint; legend had it that through his blessing, Akbar had finally been able to have sons...

In single file, everyone passes before the Saint's tomb without waiting (the real tomb being in an inaccessible crypt).

The tomb is a cube within a cube. A corridor goes around the room where the cenotaph is located.

These yellow and orange wool strands are offerings to the saint but also a prayer to the fertility specialist he was..., so that the ardent desire for offspring may be granted...

From the dark interior of the tomb, the delicacy of the openwork walls creates an impressionistic painting.

Another isolated tomb with its petals, its shroud... and its broom. yes.gif

Yes, yes, I did take off my shoe

Here we are at Buland Darwaza, the "Great Gate" or "Sublime Gate".

Under these horseshoes, how many centuries of equine history???

And we leave Jama Masjid and Fatehpur Sikri, not without having searched for and found our shoes!  

We take the car back towards Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal. Time for lunch on the hotel terrace and presto, the famous white monument is ours!