Tansen, the father of Hindustani music, supposedly performed concerts on this platform.
Akbar also liked to play Pachisi, a board game in which members of his court served as tokens. Sunil, our guide, told us it was a lot like what "Americans call hopscotch." We couldn't resist playing.
Here's Akbar's ornate assembly hall. He presided from the central turret.
Akbar's Christian wife had the smallest room, which was decorated with frescoes. Muslims subsequently rubbed away the heads of all living creatures because it's sacreligious to depict such things. Who knew?
Fortunately, this lotus blossom survived.
We also visited Jama Masjid, a huge mosque in Fatehpur Sikri. Many mosques in India share the same name.
How fierce is this imam?
Simple repetitive patterns characterize many of the decorative motifs.
I'm pretty sure camel shoes are embedded in the mosque's enormous wooden doors.
This little goat helped keep the place clean. They'll eat pretty much anything. I think he's snacking on a candy wrapper. Don't you love the way his horns curve around his ears?
Fatehpur Sikri is about 30 miles from Agra, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, and the home of the Taj Mahal. En route to Agra, we passed a filling station where hundreds of 3-wheeled vehicles, called tuk tuks, waited in long lines for natural gas.
We got our first view of the Taj at sunset across the Yamuna River, which flows into the Ganges. I specifically asked George to make sure he got the dome in this group shot, along with our heads. He failed, but his smart-ass response produced the biggest smiles of the trip.
Our accommodations at the ITC Mughal paled in comparison to the night before although the bar wasn't bad and the food was better than any we'd had since dining in Delhi.
Simple repetitive patterns characterize many of the decorative motifs.
I'm pretty sure camel shoes are embedded in the mosque's enormous wooden doors.
This little goat helped keep the place clean. They'll eat pretty much anything. I think he's snacking on a candy wrapper. Don't you love the way his horns curve around his ears?
Fatehpur Sikri is about 30 miles from Agra, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, and the home of the Taj Mahal. En route to Agra, we passed a filling station where hundreds of 3-wheeled vehicles, called tuk tuks, waited in long lines for natural gas.
We got our first view of the Taj at sunset across the Yamuna River, which flows into the Ganges. I specifically asked George to make sure he got the dome in this group shot, along with our heads. He failed, but his smart-ass response produced the biggest smiles of the trip.
Our accommodations at the ITC Mughal paled in comparison to the night before although the bar wasn't bad and the food was better than any we'd had since dining in Delhi.
