Tuesday – Off to Agra
Agra, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is home to the incredible Taj Mahal. Agra has a population of around 1.6 million and during the medieval period it was famous for being the capital of the Mughal Empire.
Today, after breakfast, was a four-hour drive to Agra. Another sunny day was awaiting my long drive ahead. The bus was air conditioned, and it is quite a fascinating experience to travel by road because you do get to see more of the country. Once off the highways, we ambled through lots of little remote villages with cows and goats wandering along the roads. Cows are apparently considered sacred in Hinduism and are valued for their milk, labour and religious inspiration. Their slaughter is also forbidden in a number of Indian states. I did just presume that the cows I saw wandering around were wild, but they do all belong to people and return to their homes at the end of the day – who knew!
The condition of the roads in India is pretty poor in many areas, as the surfaces are wearing off and numerous potholes are scattered around – this made for quite a bumpy journey at times. The rules on the roads also appear to be non-existent, as some of the driving stunts I saw from my window made me hold my breath at times.
We eventually arrived in Agra in time for lunch before spending the afternoon at the impressive 16th century Agra Fort. The red sandstone UNESCO World Heritage site is a complex of buildings that range in style and is surrounded by a deep moat that is now dry but was once full of water. The fort sits on the west bank of the Yamuna River and was built between 1565 and 1573 by Emperor Akbar. The architectural detail at this fort is quite amazing and there is a viewing point where you can see the Taj Mahal in the distance on a clear day – luckily, I did get a clear viewing.
After a lovely afternoon at the fort, we went to a small marble factory where we saw a demonstration of this local craft and had the opportunity to purchase some of the beautifully made goods. I did manage to refrain from buying anything here, but I could easily have bought many things!
After the marble factory we went to see a wonderful show called ‘Mohabbat the Taj’ which depicted the beautiful love story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. The show was full of colour, dancing, and drama, and the replica of the Taj Mahal looked amazing! This was the perfect end to our day, as the show helped us all to understand the story behind the building of this perfect mausoleum before we visited it the following morning No photography was allowed during the performance, so, unfortunately, I have no photos to share with you from there. We were all quite hungry after all the activities of the day, so it was then off for a nice relaxing meal together to recharge our batteries before our exciting trip to see the Taj Mahal early the following morning.