After a smooth train trip from Jaipur, we “magically” appeared in Agra…without even using that trusted magical phrase “abracadabra”! Agra was our second stop in the “north India triangle”. This “little town” of 1.2 million people is almost 1/2 the size of Canada’s largest city, Toronto!
Having settled into our hotel, Katina found a well-rated walking tour of Old Agra, so we signed up for the tour, tied up our running shoes were ready to hit the streets to explore.
The tour was a bit different than others we had taken in the past. It was not so much focused upon the sights (“On the left you will see…”), rather on daily life. We dove in deep, and little did we know that when we came out we would never be the same again!
Our first stop was the Jama Masjid or the “Main Mosque” in Agra. While not as large as some of the other mosques we have seen, it was still quite impressive. One thing I learned was that each city has a Jama Masjid – this is the main mosque in the city, usually the largest.
This mosque was founded by the Princess Jahanara Bugum, who was the daughter of Emperor Shah Jahan. The story goes that the princess did not want to get married, so she approached her father the Emperor and said that she wanted to dedicate her life to God. The Emperor agreed, and gave her the dowry she would have otherwise received for her marriage, and with this money the princess built the mosque.
We also walked through the old Agra Fort railway station. Our guide, Suyash, explained that two great things that the British left behind were the railway system throughout India and the Postal system. I immediately picked up on this…no other guide we have had has mentioned anything good that the British did in India, only focusing on the things that didn’t go so well. I also remembered in our European travels learning about how, when the Romans conquered a nation, they brought many good things such as sanitation, roads, as well as the countless buildings and structures standing today. Remember my post on the Pont du Gard?
Ok, so far so good…we saw the mosque and the railway station. It felt like a pretty normal tour up to this point! And then we dove into the Kinari Bazaar – the main market of the Old City found in behind the mosque.
Here, you can find almost anything you can imagine. The narrow, winding lanes reminded me very much of our time in Morocco when we stayed in Fes in the Medina. Both were very narrow, busy, and maze-like, though the medina certainly was easier to get lost within!
And here’s what we found:
Street food…
Note…we didn’t try any of this street food…our guide said it might not be good for our ‘western’ stomachs!
Traffic!
People living life…
Places of worship…
Incredible colours…
Monkeys? In the city?
Rickshaw, anyone?
As we got off of our rickshaws, we sort of looked at one another with a bit of a dazed look in our eyes…
That was different!
Agra Fort
After the “organized-chaos” of the bazaar, we made our way to the Agra Fort, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Monument. This huge defensive structure was built in the 16th century. The fort changed hands several times, and each time changes were made, including the destruction of buildings in order to make room for new buildings to be constructed. As a result, only a few of the buildings in the fort are of Mughal architecture, the remainder being a combination of architectural styles. This fort remains an active military base; only about 30% of the fort is accessible to the public.
The main portion of the fort is made from red sandstone, just like the Red Fort, which we saw in Old Delhi.
However, when Shah Jahan had possession of the fort, he demolished some of the buildings to make room for his white marble palaces
From the fort, you can also see another one of Agra’s famous monuments…
Did you find the hidden monument in the picture above? More on that one in Zoe’s post tomorrow…
Comments
4 responses to “Agra-cadabra!”
Hi Oliver,
This was quite a journey through the streets and Bazaar. The street food looked good–Did you try some! Imagine everything trying to go through the same street at the same time! I would be pretty dazed as well! Loved your photos and commentary! Love Mom
Hi Baba,
The street food looks good…but we’re not always that adventurous. I had asked our guide at a couple of different places whether the food would be safe for our ‘western’ stomachs, and he said probably not…so we just went with looking and photographing!
Really liked this blog Oliver, great pictures. Felt like I was along with you all. What was on the leaf? It looked like butterflies, please tell me it wasn’t!!!! Doreen
Hi Doreen,
Glad you enjoyed the chaos from a distance! The leaf did not have butterflies on it! That was a piece of betel nut, and then the rest are different spices that are included. Supposed to help with digestion and freshen breath. I didn’t try it, so I cannot say if it works or not!