A few hours driving out of Jaipur, India’s Pink City, we reached a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Fatehpur Sikri was built as the capital of the Mughal emperor Akbar in the mid 1500’s. It is a ‘fort city’ encompassing administrative, residential and religious buildings, including palaces, public buildings, mosques, and living areas for the court, the army, the servants of the king and an entire city. All fortified by towers, walls and gates.
It is hailed as one of India’s most perfect architectural accomplishments.
Inside Fatehpur Sikri
The site was also impressive, to us, because it was nearly deserted. A few sleepy guards stood here and there in the shade. A few local visitors wandered around the vast halls and stone plaza’s and wanted their pictures taken with us.
Hay truck
Along the way, we passed amazing trucks, like giant balloons on wheels. We learned these are hay trucks. And to prevent the hay from blowing all over the place, they are wrapped in a tent… such a smart idea.
Our driver slowed down to point out cow patties. The highway was lined with these round pattycakes. We saw them drying in huts built of cowpatties… They were being sold for fuel. If you are not happy with your job, one day, think of a cowpatty producer…
Cowpatties for sale…
After yet another few hours driving along quiet roads, we reached another unesco World Heritage site and architectural wonder: Chand Baori in the village of Abhaneri is the most famous stepwell in Rajasthan. A stepwell’s purpose was to conserve a massive amount of rainwater during the monsoon season and thus provide a reliable, year-round water source for the local community in an region prone to drought. Because of the depth, the water stayed cool. This stepwell is dated to the 8th or 9th century, its oldest parts might date back to the 6th century CE.
Chand Baori Stepwell
Standing on the top edge looking down, I felt like I was about to step into a M.C. Escher painting…
The only thing that kept us thoroughly grounded in the 21st century was blaring Indian heavy metal music from a truck parked outside the gate to the historic monument. It seemed the entire village was there to dance. Men, women and children all swayed to the deafening music.
We continued on our way towards the last city on our itinerary: Agra. Of course we knew that Agra is the city known for the Taj Mahal - one of the seven new Wonders of the World. It is also a UNESCO Worlds Heritage site and an iconic monument to love. Built between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of India and one of the most universally admired masterpieces of Muslim art.
We knew all that.
We had heard so much about it and seen so many images of it, that we were convinced it wouldn’t be all that spectacular… After all, we had seen the Alhambra, the great mosque of Casablanca, the skyline of Qatar and many other architectural marvels. Yet, we were in Agra so of course we had to see the Taj Mahal. We even got out of bed at 5 am to join our guide for a 20 minute walk from our hotel to the entrance gate. It was dark, humid and quiet. Only stray dogs, some monkeys and golf carts full of tourists crossed our path.
We bought our tickets and proceeds onto the grounds.
And suddenly… there it was.
So white, so stark, so strikingly beautiful it took our breath away.
I had a lump in my throat, just looking at the immensely beautifully structure. Plain. Quiet, Imposing. It seemed to float as early morning mist slowly rose into the awakening sky.
I wracked my brain to think of a more beautiful building.
I couldn’t…
We had not expected it but we were completely overwhelmed by the serenity and otherworldliness of this building… It seemed like it had come down from heaven.
And I’m usually a pretty down-to-earth person…
It wasn’t terribly crowded as we strolled closer and closer. The sun slowly rose and with its rays came colour. The white heavenly building turned to pink and brownish. There was now colour in the arches over the doors: green and red marble inlay. With the sunshine it, somehow, became less magical.
We filed inside, mostly to say we had been inside the Taj Mahal.
But that first, early morning glimpse was the most amazing site. It should have stayed that white, that hypnotizing mysterious for ever…
© Taj Mahal by Margriet Ruurs
Finally, we drove back to New Delhi, along quiet new highways, through a dusty countryside full of farms and cows. It was time to fly home again. Our trip to India had turned out to be full of surprises, more interesting and wonderful than we had expected. Thanks to Vacation India, everything was pretty close to perfect. And now we are dreaming of returning to this fascinating country, perhaps to search for tigers, to stroll the Himalayan foothills or to see the beaches of Goa… Only time will tell.
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