Places of Interest I
Tāj Mahal: Agra’s Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world, the mausoleum of Shah Jahān’s favorite wife, Mumtāz Mahal. It is one of the New Seven Wonders of the world, and one of three World Heritage Sites in Agra.
Completed in 1653 CE., the Tāj Mahal was built by the Mughal king Shāh Jahān as the final resting place for his beloved wife, Mumtāz Mahal. Finished in marble, it is perhaps India’s most fascinating and beautiful monument. This perfectly symmetrical monument took 22 years (1630-1652) of hard labour and 20,000 workers, masons and jewellers to build and is set amidst landscaped gardens. Built by the Persian architect, Ustād ‘Īsā, the Tāj Mahal is on the bank of the Yamuna River.
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Transportation: Getting In
By Air: Agra Airport at Kheria is about 6 km from the city centre, but is not very well connected. Now one can catch connecting flights to Agra via Delhi or Jaipur from most of the major cities of India. Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is the best option. Agra is very well connected to Delhi both by rail and road.
Picture: Diwan-i-Khas – Hall of Private Audience
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History: Agra is a medieval city situated on the banks of the river Yamuna. It is generally accepted that Sultan Sikandar Lodī, the Ruler of the Delhi Sultanate founded it in the year 1504. After the Sultan’s death the city passed on to his son Sultan Ibrāhīm Lodhī. He ruled his Sultanate from Agra until he fell fighting to Bābar in the First battle of Panipat fought in 1526.
Picture: Amar Singh Gate, one of two entrances into Agra’s Red Fort
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Agra is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It finds mention in the epic Mahābhārata where it was called Agrevaṇa or ‘the border of the forest’. Legend ascribes the founding of the city to Rājā Badal Singh (around 1475), whose fort, Badalgarh, stood on or near the site of the present Fort. However, the 11th century Persian poet Mas’ūd Sa’d Salmān writes of a desperate assault on the fortress of Agra, then held by the Shāhī King Jayapala, by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. Sultan Sikandar Lodhī was the first to move his capital from Delhi to Agra in the year 1506; he died in 1517 and his son Ibrāhīm Lodhī remained in power there for nine more years, finally being defeated at the Battle of Panipat in 1526.
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