New Delhi
December 2010

The towering archway of India Gate, a war memorial 

We took an 8D/7N tour of New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur sometime in December 2010 through AirAsiaGo and I would say that we got a fantastically good deal.

Our first stop in New Delhi is Jama Masjid which incidentally is the largest mosque in India.

Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. 

Leave your shoes outside and step in

Within the walled compound, the courtyard is large enough to hold an incredible 25,000 devotees. Sad to say, I cannot post any pictures of the courtyard for photography was not allowed when we visited; so, I can only post the exterior pictures. Dress appropriately when visiting the mosque; for ladies this means covering the head, legs and shoulders.

Jama Masjid

We moved on to have a look at India Gate, which was built in memory of the fallen Indian soldiers fighting for the British Army in World War I.

India Gate seen from across a park

Next was Qutub Minar (The Qutub Tower; Urdu: قطب مینار), constructed with red sandstone and marble, and is the tallest minaret in India.

72.5 meters, 379 stairs to the top

Intricate carvings on the wall of tower

This early Indo–Islamic architecture has five distinct stories and was built in 1206. It is surrounded by several other ancient and medieval structures and ruins.

Surrounding structures and ruins

Unfinished structure with old well at foreground

According to our tourist guide there was also another attempt to build a similar tower, but it was not successful; only  the weathered-worn base was left.

Tomb of Imam Zamin

 

On our way to Agra, we were driving behind this lorry which exhorts one to "Horn Please"; this is common in India. Interesting, because I have never seen this sign behind any of our Malaysian sports lorrries before; maybe that's why we dare not horn any lorry here for fear we may anger the F1-wannabe drivers. You won't want to imagine how they may respond behind the safety of their big, monstrous weapons lorries.

 

"Horn Please" .. is this the reason for the noisy roads?

 

 

Agra

 

Needless to say, one comes to Agra to specifically visit the Taj Mahal (Hindi: ताज महल; Persian/Urdu: تاج محل "crown of palaces"), a white marbled mausoleum built by the grief-stricken Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died during the birth of their 14th child.

Visiting the Taj Mahal is a compulsory pilgrimage for the die-hard romanticist at heart.

 

The Great gate (Darwaza-i rauza)

- gateway to the Taj Mahal

 

The Taj Mahal, framed by the gateway

 

The spectacular and timeless monument to love

A closer view

To protect the monument

To protect the unimitable and vulnerable marble monument from damage, everyone is required to cover up their shoes with a cloth-like covering.

Taj Mahal mosque

View of Taj Mahal from the mosque

The Taj Mahal is symmetrical on all four sides, which means whether one looks from North, South, East or West of the structure, the facade is the same.

Next stop is the Fatehpur Sikri, but as tours are concerned, it is expected that the itinerary must also include some compulsory stops at tourist souvenir centers; again as I understood from my tour guide, this is to help stimulate the local economy (at our expense?)

A marble inlay table top factory in Agra

We stopped at a marble inlay table top factory where we see hand made marble table tops being inlaid with semi precious stones like malachite, mother of pearl, lapis lazuli, agnate, italian stones, and so forth. Admittedly, the handiworks are beautiful and the quality very high; and so too is the price of each item. As I won't bet on my bargaining skills (acquired in the course of playing marbles in my childhood days; is it good enough?) against that of the glib-speaking, professional weasel salesman who looks like his life depended on a sale, I had to sadly leave the factory empty-handed. If it is any consolation, none in our tour group purchased anything too. A lose-lose situation for all; a bunch of Malaysian tourists who can't really appreciate good and fine handicrafts, and the salesman who won't reduce his price to the weasels group who has the "at-least-50% reduction" mentality ingrained from the year-round Mega Sales here ;).

Our next stop: Fatehpur Sikri (Hindi: फ़तेहपुर सीकरी, Urdu: فتحپور سیکری) is a city and was built during the 16th century, and is one of the best preserved collection of Mughal architecture in India. We did not explore the whole city; our tour was limited to the Fatehpur Sikri Palace. Here are some pictures we managed to capture in the short time spent there:

 

 

The road to the palace

 

A well-tended garden

 

Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience)

The four structures on roof are called chhatris

It is at the Diwan-i-Khas that Akbar gave private audience and had representatives of different religions discuss their faiths.

The central pillar of Diwan-i-khas

Panch Mahal, a five-storied palatial structure.

 

Anup talao (pond)

 

The Anup talao is an ornamental pool with a central platform and four bridges leading up to it; the platform was used for singing competitions.

 

Mariam-uz-Zamani House

Mariam Zamani Palace

Mariam Zamani is the third wife and one of his three chief queens.

 

Entrance to Queen's Palace

 

Don't miss this place when you are in Agra.

( ... to be continued ...)