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A benchmark of the cultural grandeur and power
of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbar,
Red Fort of Agra was painstakingly built of
Red Sandstone and worked both as a military
strategic point as well as the royal residence.
The legacy was further supplemented by next
generations of Mughal Emperors like Jahangir
and Shahjahan.
What gives the Agra Fort its distinctive look
is an interesting assimilation of different
architectural styles used in constructing
most of the buildings within the Agra Fort.
For instance, the Jahangiri Palace built by
Akbar is a good blend of Islamic (Persian)
and different local Hindu styles. Other |
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buildings either have a mixed style or conform
predominantly to the Islamic style.
Located on the banks of the Yamuna near the
railway station, the fort contains splendid
palaces both in red sandstone and white marble
built by two generations of prolific builders
Akbar and later Jehangir and Shahjahan. The
fort is auricular in shape and its colossal
double walls rise 20 m in height and measure
2.5 m in circumference. The lofty fortifications
of the Agra fort cast its protective shadow
over the far stretching mansions of nobles
and princes built along the riverfront. The
grand vistas of the Agra Fort invariably beckon
multitude of tourists to witness its full
glory and bask their senses thus.
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Fatehpur
Sikri
The royal city at Fatehpur Sikri is situated
26 miles west of Agra, exhibiting the cultural
opulence and crowning architectural legacy
of Mughal Empire reigned by Akbar. An illiterate
otherwise, Akbar had keen interest in literature,
architecture and arts. As legend has it, he
built the city as a new capital city to commemorate
the birth of his much-awaited first male child,
as well, to realize his noble ideas. He constructed
the city using indigenous craftsman to give
the buildings within, a synthesis of various
regional schools of architectural craftsmanship,
such as Gujarati and Bengali, Hindu and Jaina,
hand in hand with Islamic elements. One of
the buildings even reflect Din-e-ilaahi, the
new faith found by the tolerant and humanitarian
ruler. |
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buildings either have a mixed style or conform
predominantly to the Islamic style.
Now a World Hertiage site, the city is argued
to be the greatest accomplishment of Mughal
architecture, surpassable only in reputation
but not in terms of beauty and the awe it
inspires, as compared to the famous Agra Fort.
The city has the finest specimens of creative
and aesthetic impulses of the Mughals in the
monuments specifically, Diwan - e- Am, Diwan
- e - Khas, Panch Mahal (Five storey palaces),
Jama Masjid, the Buland Darwaza (a massive
gate which provides entrance to the complex)
and the white marbled tomb of Saint Sheikh
Salim Chisti. The city also has a mammoth
chessboard, where probably human figures were
used as chess pieces and moved at the emperor's
will. |
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