Mughals in Agra

If you are going on the steps of the Mughal emperors, Agra, a dusty city in Uttar Pradesh and the ancient capital of the Mughal Empire is a stop that you cannot miss, especially after Lahore in Pakistan and Delhi.

Agra is most often visited on a day trip from Delhi. It cannot be visited entirely on one single day though since it has so many amazing sites to offer. The most famous one is undoubtedly the so-amazing-that-I-am-lost-for-words Taj Mahal which is visited by millions of people every year.

However, I believe the Taj Mahal is not the first thing you ought to see in Agra. My itinerary would be as follows if you like Mughal architecture:
I would go straight away to Sikandra, to see Akbar’s tomb (Shah Jahan’s grandfather) in sandstone and white marble Then, I would go to Itimad-ud-Daulah, the tomb of Empress Nur Jehan’s father to admire what is nicknamed the ‘Baby Taj’ because of its white marble.

The next day, at sunrise, I would buy a ticket for the Taj Mahal at Taj Ganj, including entrance to Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. The best view of the Taj Mahal is at sunrise, so I do not think it would be possible for me to wait until later that day.

After the visit of this wonderful mausoleum, I would either go to Agra Red Fort, a massive red sandstone military fort started by Akbar and finished by Shah Jahan or Fatehpur Sikri, a magnificent deserted city, capital of the Mughal Empire for 14 years until it was totally emptied.

This itinerary allows you to keep the best for the end. There are also other beautiful minor sites to be visited if you have plenty of time (Jama Masjid, Chini-ka-Rauza, Ram Bagh, etc.). I did not have time so I skipped them.

Most backpackers stay in Taj Ganj area, next to the Taj Mahal. This area is also the touts, stalkers and scammers’ paradise. They are on every corner of the street and if you stay long enough, you will learn how to avoid them like the plague. It is still possible to really enjoy your stay there, like I did, by keeping your eyes open all the time.

Quick Tips:

- Buy your ticket to the Taj Mahal in Taj Ganj at sunrise and go to Itimad-ud-Daulah before visiting the Taj Mahal otherwise this monument will seem pale compared to what you have seen.

- Make sure you have a map of Agra with you to check the roads the rickshaw drivers are taking because they might drive you elsewhere if you look like a lost tourist.

- I believe it is best to book your hotel by phone in advance and do not let any rickshaw driver get into the hotel with you. Also insist at the hotel that you have booked in advance and that you do not want the receptionist to give a commission to your rickshaw driver even if he did not come inside with you.

- Do not fall for the scams. Anything involving a lot of money and exporting goods is necessarily a scam.

- Touts are among the most persistent in India. To get rid of them, there are several ways, but the most efficient one is acting deaf and dumb and not looking directly at them but above their shoulders or head.

- Several rickshaw drivers will try to stop in a shop on the way so that they can get a commission on your visit. I used the following technique so that they would not stop at a shop/emporium: After agreeing on a price, I told them I would not pay them at all if ever they tried to convince me to go to a shop or stopped in front of one without any particular reason. Sometimes, I told them I would give them a 5-10 rupees tip if they were honest with me and did not force me to visit a shop.

- Inside the monuments, if you have to remove your shoes, do not believe the shoekeepers when they say the price is 20 rupees or more. It is 1 to 2 rupees at the most (except when the price is clearly labeled in English print characters).

Best Way To Get Around:

Agra is a big city and the important monuments are far from each other. You will need to use rickshaws (auto or bicycle-rickshaws). The normal fare of an auto-rickshaw in 2005 was about 10 rupees for 1km (the price is the same all over India) but it will be very hard for you to negotiate that price. The price of a bicycle rickshaw is about half of an auto-rickshaw but they are very slow.

It is also possible to hire a bicycle in Agra (there are shops in Taj Ganj), but the traffic is horrendous and it will be quite dangerous for you to ride on your own.

In 2005, there were a few electric autorickshaws operating on a few selected routes (I believe there are more nowadays). It was possible to take a electric rickshaw from Taj Ganj to Shilpgram Crafts Village. Even though I was said it was possible to take one from Taj Ganj to Agra Fort, I did not see any of them on that route.

When I was in Jaislmer, I booked a night at Hotel Kamal through the phone since I knew this was the only hotel in Taj Ganj with a full frontal view of the Taj Mahal on its roof.. I really did not care about the cleanliness or the space I would have in my room.

When I arrived at Agra Cantonment train station from Bikaner (my next stop after Jaisalmer) an early morning of August, I made sure not to reveal the hotel name to the rickshaw drivers even though they were really insistent. I just asked them to drive me to the entrance of the Taj Mahal without more explanations.

However, the driver realised what I was looking for and dropped me just in front of Hotel Kamal and he was honest enough not to go inside with me to claim his commission.

My booking had been taken into account (150 rupees for a single traveller in low season -August 2005) and I was shown a dark medium-sized room on the first floor, with two single beds, a fan and a mosquito net on the hall windows. It had creepy curtains, but overall, the state of the room was okay even though the grey walls could have been refreshed with bright colours.

The tiny en-suite bathroom contrasted a bit with the greyish appearance of the room: it had freshly painted mauve walls but a tiled floor which looked fifty years old. Like in most cheap hostels in India, there were only cold showers and a Turkish toilet (and no toilet paper).

The only highlight was the roof of this hostel: from the moment you get out of the staircase and are standing on the roof, you have a full frontal view of the so-beautiful-that-I-am-gobsmacked Taj Mahal. No matter where I sat on the roof, I could admire the perfection of the mausoleum and stare at it for hours without having to bear the crowds. It is possible to have a somewhat good dinner on the roof, but the best was certainly the banana pancakes and lassis that I devoured while admiring the panoramic view. The view itself largely compensates the medium quality of the meals.

So if you do not mind a lack of comfort, are not too strict about cleanliness but want to enjoy the Taj Mahal day and night without having to pay 750 rupees every day, Hotel Kamal is the place to go.

I have read all the reviews that have been written to date about the Taj Mahal and none of them satisfied me because they did not even capture the quintessence of this monument. Even myself, I could not do better because I would not doing any justice to the perfection of the Taj Mahal by describing it in a language that is not my mother tongue and I am also too pragmatic in my writing style. I am undoubtedly unable to compete with the Indian poets and writers who all failed to describe its magnificence.

Instead of describing the Taj Mahal in detail (as I would have done for other monuments), I will try to give my personal impressions about it here because good technical descriptions have already been given in other reviews.

The sheer beauty of Mumtaz Mahal tomb (completed in 1648 after 17 years) has frustrated many people (including me) who were unable to describe the emotions felt when seeing it for real for the first time. Let me just say that it is undoubtedly the most incredibly awesome, stunning, beautiful gesture of love that could have been given to anyone. It well deserves the title of the Seventh New Wonder of the World. I have seen four of them so far (Petra in Jordan, Colosseum in Rome, Chichen Itza in Mexico and the Taj) and it would easily be on top of my personal “list of 10 things to see before you die”.

In order to really appreciate the incredibly stunning sight, I believe it was important for me to be aware of the deep love Shah Jahan had for his third wife and his disheartenment when she died. This is a true magical moment of emotion when you think about it while contemplating this white marble masterpiece.

I have been disappointed, however, not to be able to find a lot of information about the woman for whom the Taj was built because it is quite annoying to contemplate such a marvel and not knowing much about the person resting inside apart from the fact that she was extremely beautiful, discrete and died at 38 while giving birth to her thirteenth child. I am pretty sure that a movie about Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (Treasure of the Palace) would be a Hollywood blockbuster because all elements who make a hit would be reunited: exotic settings (the prestigious Mughal Empire), incredibly passionate love and a double tragedy (the death of Mumtaz and the imprisonment of Shah Jahan in Agra fort by his ungrateful son, Aurangzeb) and the construction of the mausoleum.

Also, contemplating the Taj from the gilded prison of Shah Jahan in Agra Fort is quite disheartening, knowing that he could see it but not approach it to be physically closer to his beloved deceased wife. The only consolation here is that nowadays Shah Jahan rests forever next to the love of his life. A truly tragic but nonetheless beautiful ending…

If you are interested in the evolution of Mughal architecture from Akbar to Aurangzeb and have visited Lahore (Pakistan) and Delhi before Agra (or intend to visit these cities afterwards), Itimad-ud-Daulah is a very interesting stop before your visit of the Taj Mahal.

Itimad-ud-Daulah is the perfect example of the transition between the gigantesque Mughal monuments (Badshahi Mosque in Lahore or Jameh Masjid in Delhi) and the more delicate constructions (Taj Mahal). It testifies that the Mughals began like titans and finished like jewellers.

In 2005, the entrance fee was included in the price of the Taj Mahal visit (750 rupees, 12 euros). If you have not visited the Taj Mahal on the same day, entrance is 110 rupees. It is often nicknamed the "Baby Taj" because of its resemblance with the impressive Taj Mahal.

This is the tomb of Mirza Ghiyas Beg and Asmat Begum who were Nur Jehan’s parents and Mumtaz Mahal’s grand parents. (Nur Jehan was the Mughal Emperor Jehangir’s wife, and Mumtaz Mahal was the one for whom the Taj Mahal was built) and it is situated on the eastern bank of the Yamuna river.

Mirza Ghiyas Beg was made wazir (Prime Minister) after Nur Jehan’s marriage with Jehangir in 1611. He held the title I’timad-ud-Daulah (the Lord Treasurer), and after his death in Agra in 1622, Nur Jehan built this tomb for her parents. Her own tomb and that of Jehangir are in Lahore (Pakistan) and are also worth a visit.

This tomb is one of the finest of the Mughal tombs; it is the first building finished in white marble and marks the transitional phase from red stone (Badshahi Mosque, Agra Fort, Jameh Masjid, etc.) to white marble (Taj Mahal + various monuments in Lahore Fort and Agra Fort); it reflects the personality of the people who lie buried here, and more than that, the formal and ornamental character of its builder, Nur Jehan who ruled the Mughal empire from behind the curtain for 16 years.

Indeed, the most important aspect of this tomb is its polychrome ornamentation, beautiful floral stylized, arabesque and geometrical designs depicted on the whole exterior in inlay and mosaic techniques in various tints and tones. This mausoleum is typical of the Jehangir’s art. The unusual thing about this tomb is that it is domeless.

The garden around the tomb is divided in four equal quarters with shallow water-channels sunk in the middle of the raised stone paved pathways and the parterres could be converted into flower beds.

If you like Mughal architecture like I do, this is a visit not to miss while you are in Agra, and preferably before you see the – way-too-famous-that-I-am-lost-for-words - Taj Mahal. To get there, it is necessary to take a rickshaw from the Taj Ganj.

Since I was in Agra to see the remains of the grandiose Mughal constructions, I could not skip the huge Agra Fort, 2 km from the Taj Mahal, on the same bank of the Yamuna river.

Some parts of the fort are still used by the Indian Army and are out of bounds for visitors, but it is still possible to have an overall insight on the Mughal constructions from Akbar the Great to Shah Jahan (his grand-son).

Entrance is included in the Taj Mahal ticket provided you visit it on the same day. At Amar Singh Gate (the only entrance to the Fort for visitors, named after a maharajah of Jodhpur), I was assaulted by herds of so-called guides and children selling postcards. It was really hard for me to get past the crowd of stalkers, but the entrance is well guarded and once I was in the Fort, it was much quieter. Beware of the monkeys in just after the entrance, in front of Jehangir’s Palace (the first monument that you will see). I approached them too closely and I was almost attacked by one of them.

In the Great Courtyard, the beautiful Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) is really picturesque with its white marble columns. After this, I entered the Royal Enclosure where I could admire several beautiful mosques (the Moti Mahal is probably the most beautiful one in India with its white marble), palaces (do not miss the Shish Mahal with its small mirrors and Jehangir’s Palace with various architectural influences). From most balconies in the pavilions, I could admire the Taj Mahal but had to avoid the aggressive monkeys once again. It was where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb and could not do anything else than stare at the mausoleum erected for his beloved wife until his death in the Musamman Burj, a beautiful white marble tower.

The main parts of the fort (the red sandstone walls and gates) were built during the reign of Akbar (1556-1605) but Shah Jahan built most of the buildings in the fortress afterwards (Diwani-e-Am in 1628 among others).

The buildings in Agra Fort are interesting to visit because they sum up the evolution of Mughal architecture from red sandstone big walls to white marble monuments with fine floral and geometrical designs. It is easy to notice the various influences in the buildings (Hindu, Arabic and Central Asian styles mix together harmoniously).