Monday, January 08, 2007

Agra: Lover’s Paradise: The Monument of Everlasting Love



Valentine day is just forty days away and I dream last night that I got rebirth as feminine and God is asking me about the lover that I will prefer to have. Will any one like to provide words for my desire? Please don’t try as I know my desire is as strange as my dream was. My desire is to have a lover like Shah Jahan who can make yet another Taj Mahal to express his love for me.

Taj Mahal along with other heritage monuments Fatehpur Sikari and Red Fort makes the city of Agra, the most prominent and frequently traveled spot of the world tourism map. Geographically Agra is situated in the Uttarpradesh state of India and is a district place and well connected with other cities of the country as being on the cross roads of national highways 2, 3 and 11. Though in the present times Agra and Taj Mahal are used as synonymous but the Indian history pages are showing the presence of city even in the era of Mahabharat with the name Agrabana. It is believed that city was constructed by Raja Badalsingh who ruled the area around the 1475 A.D. The city is situated on the banks of river Yamuna and water of this river adds glitters to Taj when seen as the shadow in the water.


Taj Mahal
An architectural beauty, beyond comparison, inspiration of poets and writers, a dream desire of each and every lover. It is said that Mumtaj Mahal [Arjumand Bano] the heart queen of King Shah Jhan [Khuram] was with desire to have unique Makbara [Rest place after the death] and to fulfill this desire king decided to construct Taj. It has taken almost 22 years [from 1630 to 1652] and craftsmanship of 20,000 workers to build this perfect symmetrical beauty in marvel.
History reveals that Mumtaj Mahal was died in 1631 at Burhanpur [Presently in the state of Madhya Pradesh] and her dead body was shifted from there to Agra only after the construction of Taj was completed. Today not only the lovers but also the common people are visiting this wonder of world. The scenario become more worth to watch and photogenic on the night of Full Moon day.

Fatehpur Sikari

This is yet another evidence of excellence in architectural craftsmanship by the Mugals, which was constructed by King Akbar. History narrates that after being hopeless about the heir King Akbar went [necked footed on the hot sand of desert] to the famous sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti of Sikari [almost 40 km. away from the Agra city] and prayed to bless with a son. Blessings of saint forced God to fulfill the desire of King and after having a male child King Akbar build this structure and made it capital city. Though due to water storage problem the city was not remained the capital and mist of time had covered it but still the marvelous tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti is attracting tourist to visit the place and pray the sufi saint for granting the blessings.

Agra Fort [Red Fort]

The fort, for which construction orders and initial structure was constructed by the Mugal Emperor Akbar in the 1565 but the work was on for the fort of total perimeters of 2.4 km till the time of his grandson Shah Jhan. The crescent shaped fort goes on to become flattened on the eastern side especially the wall facing river. The construction is made from the red sand stones with bastions at regular punctuation.

Other Tourist Spots

Agra is the most famous tourist city of India. The city is with the traditional heritage of Mugals and North Indians, this is reflecting not only from the dress code of local people but also from the food habits. Here you will find sweet dish like Gazak and Petha, Snacks like Shola Bhatura showing the north Indian taste along with Non Vegetarian Mougalai food stuffs. Other tourist attraction the predominantly attracts the tourists are

Sikandara: Resting place of King Akbar

Itmad-ud-Daulah: Tomb of Mirza Giyas Beg [A tomb constructed by Queen Noor Jhan for her father]

Radha Swami Samadhi : The garden palace with the holly ashes of Baba Shivdayal Ji founder of this religious and spiritual thought stream. [for more details http://www.thesindhuworld.com/rf_radhaswami.htm ]

Chinni Ka Roza : Evidence of influence of Parsian architectural.

Mariyam’s Tomb: Famous for some exceptional carvings.

Jama Masjid: A wonderful assimilation of Iranian architecture.

Some Famous Religious places KAILASH TEMPLE
MANKAMESHWAR TEMPLE
BALKESHWAR TEMPLE
PRITHVINATH TEMPLE
RAJESHWAR TEMPLE
GURU KA TAL GURUDWARA
BAPTIST CHURCH
CATHOLIC CHURCH
DIGAMBAR JAIN MANDIR

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