Editor Pick
The city - an introduction and overview
- October 26, 2001
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Amanda from London, United Kingdom
The tourist part of Fatephur Sikri consists of 2 parts – the city and religious areas, the latter centred around the mosque. There are also modern buildings on one side of the city, down on the plain below, but these aren’t of interest to the tourist.
When you arrive, it’s a good idea to see the city first, as there’s a car-parking area just outside the entrance. As you go through the gate into the city, and up the road, you should ask the driver to turn right at the fork, towards the higher walls, rather than left, towards the clearly-visible arch of the mosque. Once you’ve paid your $10 foreigner-price entrance charge at the ticket booth (no change available, so make sure you have the day’s current dollar exchange rate, which varies at the moment between 427 and 450 Rs) there is a gate on the right of the booth leading into the city. Various guides hang around the entrance, offering their services, and I strongly recommend you hire one, as their explanation of the buildings adds greatly to your enjoyment of the place. We were faced with a major scrum, when we arrived there at 3pm, with some 5 guides vying for our attention and cash. Check that your guide is certified by the Indian Ministry of Tourism, which should guarantee a reasonable standard of English and of the buildings. We eventually had to choose between a young, smooth operator in Western trousers, and a man in his 60s with stained Indian clothes – we talked to both of them and chose the older man after the younger took my mother aside and told her to "tell your daughter to take me, you as mother should choose as she is too young to know what is right". Both of us reacted badly to the parental advice!(As I had been to India before, and my mother hadn’t, and I’m much more capable of being aggressive and unpleasant, it was generally I who made such decisions, to my mother’s relief.) We didn’t regret our choice for a moment – the guide we chose had been born and brought up in the village of Fatephur under the city’s walls, and spoke good English. His love for and knowledge of the buildings made the visit more wonderful for us, and we benefited greatly from his experience.
On leaving the living areas of the city, we walked up the hill to the mosque, a walk of 300-400 yards. Entrance to the mosque area is free, and consequently you must work hard to dodge the endless chess and water sellers, beggars, and goats. The guide accompanied us, as the mosque was included in the 150Rs tour price we has negotiated with him. Visiting the whole complex will take you at least 2, and up to 3 hours, and as with other sites, it’s best to come early in the morning, or late in the afternoon, to dodge the worst heat.
From journal Fatehpur Sikri - the 16th century city