The Taj Mahal

Agra [1] is the city of the Taj Mahal, in the north Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh , some 200 km from Delhi .
Agra has three UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Taj Mahal and the Agra
Fort in the city and Fatehpur Sikri nearby. There are also many other
buildings and tombs from Agra's days of glory as the capital of the
Mughal Empire.
The city has little else to recommend it. Pollution, especially smog
and litter, is rampant and travellers are pestered byswarms of touts
and hawkers at every monument, mosque, temple or palace. That said,
the sites are some of the wonders of the world and no trip to India is
complete withoutat least one visit to the Taj.
[ edit ] Understand
While Agra's heyday was as the capital of the Mughal empire between
1526 and 1658, the city was founded much earlier. The earliest
reference to Agra is in the ancient epic, the Mahabharata, while
Ptolemy was the first person to call it by its modern name. The
recorded history of Agra begins around the 11th century, and over the
next 500 years, the city changed hands between various kings, both
Hinduand Muslim.
In 1506, Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, moved
his capital from Delhi to Agra. His son Ibrahim Lodi was the last
ruler of the Lodi dynasty, as he was defeated in 1526 by Babur, the
first Mughal ruler, in the battle of Panipat. Agra fell too, and
became the capital of the Mughals, whose rule over Agra was
uninterrupted except for a brief period between 1540 and 1556. In
1540, Sher Shah Shuri overthrew Humayun became the ruler of much of
North India, including Agra. After SherShah Suri's death his
descendants proved unequal to the task of ruling the kingdom, and
Hemu, a Hindu general ofSuri became the effectiveruler who would later
crown himself King Hemachandra Vikramaditya just as the kingdom was
facing an assault from the reinvigorated Mughals. In 1556, Hemu would
be defeated and killed in the second battle of Panipat, and the
Mughalsregained Agra.
Mughals were great builders. Babur built the Aram Bagh (garden of
relaxation) modeled after the garden of paradise, where he was
eventually buried after his death. His grandson Akbar refurbished the
Agra fort and built the Fatehpur Sikri , an entire city just on the
outskirts of Agra. He also renamed Agra after himself, and the city
was known as Akbarabad while it was in Mughal hands. Akbar's grandson
Shah Jehan would give Agra its most famous monument, the Taj Mahal ,
which is the mausoleum of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal . The Taj is
constructed in white marble. It took 20 years to construct, and is now
universally known as a monument to love. Legend has it that Shah Jehan
wanted a replica of the Taj constructed in black marble that would be
his final resting place. There is no actual support for this theory,
but even if it were true, it would have been unlikely to be
eventuated. His son Aurangzeb was austere and pious, and had no time
or inclination for the ostentation of his forefathers, preferring
tospend his money on warsin South India. In any case, even during Shah
Jehan's reign, which was the period when the Mughal empire was at its
height, the construction of the Taj put a strain on the resources of
the empire and caused a min-famine around Agra.Shah Jehan was
eventually buried in the white Taj, next to his beloved Begum.
Shah Jehan, in addition to giving Agra its greatest claim to fame, was
also responsible for beginning its decline, as decided to shift his
capital to Shahjehanabad, which we now know as Old Delhi, in 1658.
Though Aurangzeb ordered a move back, this too was short lived, as he
moved his headquarters down south to Aurangabad to be focus on his
wars. Agra declined, and so didthe Mughal Empire. The city was
eventually captured by the Marathas, who renamed it back to Agra. In
1803, itcame under the British, who situated the Agra Presidency
there, and when India gained independence, the city was incorporated
into the state of Uttar Pradesh, and did not gain even the limited
honour of being the state's capital, that distinction going to Lucknow
, further east. It is now a tourist town, known for the Taj and a
couple of other monuments.
Anyone interested in reading a novel based onthe remarkable story
behind the Taj Mahal's creation should consider Beneath a Marble Sky
by John Shors. Beneath a Marble Sky is an international bestseller,
has won multiple awards, and is being made into a movie by Hollywood.
Other book (historical fiction) is The Taj by Colin De Silva.
[ edit ] Get in
Agra is 200 km southeast from Delhi and is one of the points of the
tourist'sGolden Triangle of Agra- Delhi - Jaipur . Agra is alsovery
well connected via rail and road with other nearby cities and tourist
destinations.
[ edit ] By plane
Service to Agra's Kheria Airport ( IATA : AGR ICAO : VIAG ) is
seasonal. As of November 2008, the city is served by Kingfisher
Airlines and Air India Regional, who both fly on the Delhi -Agra-
Jaipur tourist triangle route. The flight time to either is less than
an hour. Travelers have had trouble with extreme lateness, and for
that reason a hired car may be a safer (and probably cheaper)
alternative.
[ edit ] By train
Agra is on the main train line between the Delhi - Mumbai (Bombay) and
Delhi - Chennai routes, and many trains connect Agra with these cities
every day. Some east-bound trains from Delhi also travel via Agra, so
direct connections to points in Eastern India (including Kolkata ) are
also available. There are close to 20 trains to Delhi every day, and
at least three or four to both Mumbai and Chennai. Agra and Delhi are
notorious for their thick winter fog which reduces visibility to
almost zero. If travelling in late December or early January (the fog
season), travelers should be aware that, because of the reduced
visibility, all trains slow down and travel time goes up. The Bhopal
Shatabdi, for example, may arrive in Agra well after 10AM, andmight
return to Delhi well after midnight. Froma safety point of view, it is
always preferable to travel by train during thewinters. Driving in fog
onthe road is very risky. There are three stations in Agra:

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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