After our early-moning visit to the Taj we set off to visit the deserted Moghul kingdom of Fatehpur Sikri. An interesting story stands behind the 'ghost' city: Fatehpur Sikri was the capital of Akbar, the third and greatest of the Moghul emperors in the 16th century. He was unhappy because he did not have an heir and visited many holy men to pray for a son. In the village of Sikri he was told by a sheikh that he would have three sons and when the prophecy was fulfilled, Akbar was so impressed that he raised an entire new capital on the hill where the sheikh lived. However, the palace complex was deserted after a short period of 10-12 years, probably due to the failure of water supply.
We approached Fatehpur Sikri from the Royal Palace complex...
Inside the Palace complex, well preserved red sandstone buildings with fine decoration: Halls of Public and Private Audiance, Akbar's private chambers and of course houses of his several wives... one can tell from size of the palaces, which belonged to his 'favorite' wife. Akbar, though being Muslim, was open to Buddhism, Christianity and the Hindu faith and in Fatehpur Sikri it's visible the integration of different decorative elements from all religions.
But not only favorite wives deserved to be rewarded with grandious structures.... Akbar has also built an unusual stone tower to commemorate his favorite elephant:
Outside the Royal Palace complex, we visited the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India. Already the gates and archways are impressive with their rich decoration in Persian and Hindu design:
The interior of the Jama Masjid is home of the tomb of the sheikh, a masterpiece in brilliant white marble, looking unique in an otherwise completely red sandstone complex. The tomb is mainly visited by childless women who tie a red ribbon and pray at the saint's shrine hoping for the parenthood Akbar was blessed with.
The Jama Masjid is also home of numerous local kids, begging for money, which is one of the saddest experiences in India... Since we knew that probably begging was carried out in 'organized' manner and most of the money would be taken from the kids anyway, we decided to encourage one of the small, 4-5-year-old boy to offer a 'service' in return to the money. We faced him with a challenge, promising to give him a few rupees if he would guess which country we were coming from... well, we were amazed to hear how many countries this small kid was able to list in just seconds!
--- Some Americans could definitely learn from these street kids in India... when making statements like "India is just like Egypt" (but that's another story) ---
Despite the numerous countries he knew, Hungary seemed to be a little too tough for the small boy. However, as we mentioned the name of the country, he was almost instantly shouting "BUDAPEST!" ... And we felt this was worth to be rewarded!
The sun started to be brutal at this time of the day and we went back to our car to continue our trip towards Rajasthan where our story continues...
All our photos from Uttar Pradesh
We approached Fatehpur Sikri from the Royal Palace complex...
 |
| From ASIA - INDIA - Uttar Pradesh |
Inside the Palace complex, well preserved red sandstone buildings with fine decoration: Halls of Public and Private Audiance, Akbar's private chambers and of course houses of his several wives... one can tell from size of the palaces, which belonged to his 'favorite' wife. Akbar, though being Muslim, was open to Buddhism, Christianity and the Hindu faith and in Fatehpur Sikri it's visible the integration of different decorative elements from all religions.
 |
| From ASIA - INDIA - Uttar Pradesh |
But not only favorite wives deserved to be rewarded with grandious structures.... Akbar has also built an unusual stone tower to commemorate his favorite elephant:
 |
| From ASIA - INDIA - Uttar Pradesh |
Outside the Royal Palace complex, we visited the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India. Already the gates and archways are impressive with their rich decoration in Persian and Hindu design:
 |
| From ASIA - INDIA - Uttar Pradesh |
The interior of the Jama Masjid is home of the tomb of the sheikh, a masterpiece in brilliant white marble, looking unique in an otherwise completely red sandstone complex. The tomb is mainly visited by childless women who tie a red ribbon and pray at the saint's shrine hoping for the parenthood Akbar was blessed with.
 |
| From ASIA - INDIA - Uttar Pradesh |
The Jama Masjid is also home of numerous local kids, begging for money, which is one of the saddest experiences in India... Since we knew that probably begging was carried out in 'organized' manner and most of the money would be taken from the kids anyway, we decided to encourage one of the small, 4-5-year-old boy to offer a 'service' in return to the money. We faced him with a challenge, promising to give him a few rupees if he would guess which country we were coming from... well, we were amazed to hear how many countries this small kid was able to list in just seconds!
--- Some Americans could definitely learn from these street kids in India... when making statements like "India is just like Egypt" (but that's another story) ---
Despite the numerous countries he knew, Hungary seemed to be a little too tough for the small boy. However, as we mentioned the name of the country, he was almost instantly shouting "BUDAPEST!" ... And we felt this was worth to be rewarded!
The sun started to be brutal at this time of the day and we went back to our car to continue our trip towards Rajasthan where our story continues...
All our photos from Uttar Pradesh
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