Weekend in and around Delhi - 03/03

We then drove to the almost mythical royal capital of Fathepur Sikri.

The great (probably the greatest) Mughal king Akbar built this city to commemorate the foretelling of the birth of his male heir at the sight of the ancient settlement of Sikri.

Sadly this most exquisite piece of city planning was abandoned only after 15 years of use because it's main water source ran dry. 

 Today it survives largely as a ghost town filled with tourist and at least 2 touts per tourist. 

There are a lot of interesting palaces and pavilions inside the walled palace and you can easily spend a day here, sadly we were on a super tight schedule and headed out after a quick walk around the main structures.

Weekend in and around Delhi - 02/03

The Taj Mahal is a very difficult building to write about, it comes with too much baggage so I'll let my photos do the talking.

 

 

 

Here's some photos of the mosque adjoining the Taj

 

 

... and a couple of the amazing for garden ... (next time I'd like to visit the garden on the other side of the river)..

Our next stop was the spectacular Itmad-ud-Daulah's tomb. I've been wanting to see this building for years now and finally I made it here!

 

Here's a few photos of the most underrated Mughal wonder.

  

No visit to the Taj Mahal or for that matter to Agra is complete without seeing this jewel box like building.

Once you visit this tiny yet amazing building it's quiet obvious that Shah Jahan would never have been able to commission the Taj if this he had not seen this tomb.

 

  

On our way out of the city we halted at Akbar's tomb in the outskirts of Agra.
 

The tomb sits majestically in a huge garden full of Black Bucks

.... the exterior is quite intact ....

  

....but the interior plaster and paint work has sadly been lost due to years of neglect....

It would be amazing to see these gardens also restored properly like at Humayun's tomb.