When Fatehpur Sikri Enthralled Me
Forts monuments and palaces of the bygone era intrigue me much. Whenever I visit a new placeespecially if it happens to be in Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh and DelhiI make it a point to visit its monuments and forts built by the former kings and warriors. So when I visited Agra in Uttar Pradesh I made it a point to visit Fatehpur Sikri the abandoned capital built by Akbar the great.
Fatehpur Sikri is only 40km from the Agra city. I was told that there are daily trains from the Agra Fort railway station to Fatehpur Sikri but I preferred to take a taxi from the Agra city and reached Fatehpur Sikri in about an hour. Had our taxi not been caught in traffic we would have reached Fatehpur Sikri much earlier.
I had much read about the places wonderful structures and monuments. And did Fatehpur Sikri disappoint me? No on the contrary it awestruck me completely! The political capital of Indias Mughal Empire under Akbar from 1571 to 1585 Fatehpur Sikri certainly proved to be an excellent place.
Akbars crowning architectural legacy the Fatehpur Sikri reflects the best of the Bengali and the Gujarati architectures. The walled city complex has several wonderful palaces and monuments including DiwaniAm DiwaniKhas Paanch Mahal Birbal Bhawan Jodha Bai Palace Mausoleum of Saleem Chisti Jama Masjid and Buland Darwaza.
Of all structures and monuments at the Fatehpur Sikri complex it was the massive Buland Darwaza that impressed me the most. Buland Darwazathe highest gateway in the worldwas built by Akbar to celebrate his victory over Gujarat. The Gate of Magnificence Buland Darwaza is a huge 175feet tall structure and is as impressive and masculine as the emperor who built it.
After visiting the complex I had a great lunch consisting of delicious paranthas with many layers at one of the eateries located in its vicinity. My taxi driver said that the paranthas of the place were as famous as the Fatehpur Sikri Complex. Though he may have exaggerated the paranthas were certainly gigantic pretty much like the mammoth fort complex of Fatehpur Sikri. They were so filling that after having them I did not have any food for the next 12 hours or so.
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