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In the courtyard of the Taj Mahal
I
the bold and the beautiful - agra
Published in the April-June 2009 issue.

Nicola Corthay finds that the famed Taj Mahal is far from the only splendid monument to be found in Agra, a city worth more than a passing visit.


I start thinking about Agra and I can’t help it: the Taj Mahal keeps popping up into my mind. I want to write about the other things to admire in Agra which, on their own, would be well worth the journey. Yet all the while, I’m really just thinking Taj Mahal, Taj Mahal. Even local tourist brochures make only a half-hearted effort to highlight Agra’s alternative attractions before giving up and devoting the bulk of their promotional space to what is, after all, India’s most renowned building.

So bear with me a moment: it would be perverse indeed to write about Agra and not mention the Taj. Yes, the Taj is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world’s most photographed icons, but nothing prepares you for the impact of the real thing.

A visitor studies the inlay in the walls of the Taj Mahal
 

For a start, the Taj Mahal is, quite simply, enormous, totally over-whelming the tiny human figures that circulate around it. The delicate architecture, though, is nothing short of brilliant – the white marble domes seemingly as fragile as spun sugar, the stone latticework on the windows looking as if it would crumble at the slightest touch. The window surrounds are intricately carved with geometric designs, flowers in marble blossom from wall panels and everywhere, there are inlays of semi-precious stone: lapis lazuli, onyx, jasper, amber, carnelian, silver, gold and coral.

All this is just the Taj Mahal’s physical presence, to which you have to add the sad tale of its builder, Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan, who became inconsolable on the death of his third wife Mumtaz Mahal and had this mausoleum erected in her memory. Tragically, the emperor never set foot in the Taj Mahal during his lifetime; he was deposed and locked up in Agra Fort by his son Aurangzeb, and spent his declining years staring downriver at this grand public expression of his great moment of grief. He probably never realised it but, in his darkest moment, Shah Jahan had managed to create something of eternal beauty.

Now I’ve got the Taj Mahal off my chest, there are other things to see in Agra. Marvellous things. Things that would rate very highly if there wasn’t such overwhelming competition from you-know-what. How many people have heard of the Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula, for example? Built between 1622 and 1628, the tomb has a design inspired by the Taj Mahal itself – and, indeed, it is affectionately referred to by locals as the “Baby Taj”. There’s certainly an overall similarity, although Itimad-ud-Daula is on a much smaller scale. This was the first building in India to be constructed of pure marble, and it features the country’s first example of pietra dura inlay, in which stones are recessed into marble in intricate patterns.

A contemplative moment at Agra Fort
 

For a first try, it comes remarkably close to perfection. The floor is inlaid with coloured stone to resemble a Persian carpet, and the surrounding walls are engraved with pictures of cypresses and flowers, both regarded as symbols of Paradise. The building is exquisite – then you turn the other way and find village women in billowing pink saris scrubbing themselves on the muddy banks of the river below, while impoverished kids pester oxen with sticks. This casual juxtaposition of the sublime and the banal is what makes Agra so striking; visitors could do worse than to turn their eyes away from the city’s monuments for a few moments and appreciate the life going on all around them.

The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula isn’t nearly as striking as the Taj Mahal but it is, perhaps, more beautiful, and it is certainly more intimate. On a grander scale is Agra’s imposing fort, which was begun in 1565 and developed by three of the most magnificent Mogul emperors – Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan – at a time when Agra was at its zenith as a centre of commerce, culture and learning. The fort is part military headquarters, with high ramparts stretching in the shape of a crescent moon for more than two kilometres along the riverbank, punctuated by four massive gateways. A dry moat, now home to troupes of monkeys and swooping green parrots, completes the fortifications.

A river view of the Taj Mahal
 

The fort once also served as a royal residence and is cluttered with audience chambers, private apartments, courtyards, mosques and gardens. Shah Jahan spent his captivity in the octagonal Mussaman Burj, a marble pavilion with fine views over the river and the Taj Mahal. Visitors can still inspect the royal swimming pool (once filled with rosewater) as well as the hot and cold baths in the Sheesh Mahal, or Palace of Mirrors, where the walls are inlaid with a million tiny reflecting pieces of glass.

Most of Agra Fort is built of red sandstone, in a mixture of Moghul and Hindu styles. Look out for the typically Hindu wide eaves, ornamental brackets on roof beams and elaborate embellishments, mostly geometrical designs and dancing girls, as well as for Moghul arches and windows, turrets and domes. The sandstone of the buildings glows spectacularly in the late-afternoon sun: sit on the battlements and watch parrots swoop against an orange sky. Fires in a hundred points of burning light spring out of the gathering Agra dusk as mothers prepare evening meals, and the air fills with the sound of peacocks, mewing loudly in the moat below.

A visitor to the Taj Mahal
 

The great Moghul rulers meant to rest as comfortably in death as they had done in life. Emperor Akbar started his own tomb (though it was finished by his son, Jahangiri, after Akbar died in 1605) and clearly intended to rest for eternity in considerable style. The mausoleum lies about 10 kilometres outside Agra, at Sikandra, and there’s never a dull moment on the road between the two: along the way, you’ll pass buses, cars, cycle rickshaws, bullock and camel carts, pigs, donkeys, buses, pedestrians and even a few depressing dancing bears on chains. The mausoleum sits amid a vast 150-acre parkland populated with herds of deer and ubiquitous monkeys and, like Agra Fort, is a fusion of Muslim and Hindu art and architecture, reflecting the spirit of the times and the cultural tolerance of the emperor himself.

The emperor’s tomb lies in an underground crypt under dim lighting, sprinkled with rose petals by Indian visitors, who still respect of the memory of the great ruler. Unfortunately, much of the mausoleum was ransacked in the early seventeenth century, but the entrance gate still preserves most of its original detail. Aptly named the Gateway of Magnificence, the massive archway topped with four minarets can be seen from kilometres around, and is often confused by visitors for the tomb itself. Up close, you can see that it’s covered with inlays of marble, decorative tiles and inscriptions from the Koran, one of which reads: “These are the gardens of Eden, enter them and live forever”.

Reflections in the water on the approach to the Taj Mahal
 

A worthy rival to the glories of the Taj Mahal would have to be Fatehpur Sikri (City of Victory), nearly 30 kilometres beyond the mausoleum. You might wonder whether the road has been upgraded since Moghul times. Just as every bone has been jolted loose, an immense gateway appears on the summit of a hill shimmering in the heat: the Victory Gateway, built to commemorate Akbar’s military triumphs. Emperor Akbar came to Fatehpur Sikri to visit a renowned Sufi, Shaikh Salim, and ask him for the blessing of a son. When a son was born to him, Akbar vowed to build a new city at the place where the famed Sufi lived and soon, it became the wonder of all India. Less than two decades after it was established, the city had to be abandoned because its water supply proved insufficient.

Today, Fatehpur Sikri has a haunting emptiness about it, rather like a deserted stage set; even tourists are few and far between, which is a shame, because this is truly one of the most wonderful sights in all India. Step through the gateway and you’re guaranteed to gasp in surprise at the vast rectangular courtyard surrounded by sumptuous buildings in red sandstone. The sheer scale of the now-abandoned city is incredible. More miraculous, perhaps, was that none of it was constructed hurriedly: every window, door, balcony and gateway was painstakingly carved and decorated in some manner or other. In fact, it appears that everything in the city was carefully planned, from the drainage system for the fountains to the stone rings that once held down silk canopies that provided the courtyards with shade.

You could easily spend half a day here, wandering through the empty buildings, inspecting the abandoned adornments and soaking up the melancholy and magnificence. Most of it is deserted, and even the occasional tour group is dwarfed by the immense scale of the place.

Locals having a chat in the ruins of Fatehpur Sikri
 

By late afternoon, the sun is turning the sandstone to crimson, then orange, then the most subtle of pinks until finally, the light fades over this city of lost and broken dreams. It’s a far cry from the tourist-crowded Taj Mahal, but just as rewarding. •

Photography by Nicola Corthay.


TRAVEL FACTS

getting there
  • Delhi is the nearest international airport to Agra; there are domestic flights to Agra but the fast (two-hour) express train is a better option. Airlines that service India from Australia include Singapore Airlines (phone 13 1011 or visit www.singaporeair.com.au), Qantas, phone 13 1313 or visit www.qantas.com.au) and Thai Airways (phone 1300 651 960 or visit www.thaiairways.com.au).
  • Air India also has a Sydney office. Phone 02 9283 3370 or visit www.airindia.com

getting around

where to stay
  • ITC Mughal, Agra phone +91 562 402 1700 or visit www.sheraton.com
  • The Oberoi Amarvilaas, contact Small Luxury Hotels of the World on 02 9411 5512 or visit www.slh.com or www.amarvilas.com

further information
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