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The ancient city of Agra in India
Agra City in India
Agra is located in the southwestern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on the west bank of the Yamuna River. The population is even suburban 770,000 (1981). The land goes to the Ganges Plain in the east, the Punjab Plain in the west, and the hub of the Malwa Plateau in the south. It was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1566-1569 and 1601-1658.
Tourism is important and there are historic buildings such as the Taiji Mahal Mausoleum. It is an important place for water and land transportation, where 5 railways and many highways meet. Distribution center for grain and cotton. It is famous for the manufacture of carpets, gold and silver workmanship, carvings and iron utensils. There are also factories for cotton textiles, wool textiles, oil extraction, flour, tanning, cables and rubber products. Built a large oil refinery.
Introduction
Agra was the capital of India from the 16th century to the early 18th century. Home to the capital of the Mughal Empire that ruled all of India for hundreds of years, it is a fusion of pinnacle artistic achievement and unforgettable love stories. Agra is a typical northern Indian city, noisy and crowded. But in such a city, stands the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world. Indians call the Taj Mahal “Monument of Love”.
No photos or words can truly express the beauty and magic of the Taj Mahal. The Red Fort of Agra is all made of red sandstone, so it is also called the Red Fort, which is as famous as the Red Fort in Delhi. Its castle buildings are representative of the peak period of Indo-Islamic art. A historical city in southwestern Uttar Pradesh, India, a water and land transportation center, and a distribution center for agricultural products. Located on the west bank of the Yamuna River.
The population includes the suburbs of about 770,000. The area is 4816 square kilometers. Originally built in the early 16th century, it was the capital of the Mughal dynasty on several occasions. In 1566, Emperor Akbar moved the capital from Delhi, and built the magnificent Jahangir Mahal Palace and the bunkers at the head of the Yamuna River. From 1630 to 1652, Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of his deceased concubine.
Agra was annexed by the British in 1803 and was the capital of Agra Province (later North West Province). The city is an intermediate station for railways and highways between Delhi and Kanpur, as well as a traffic hub connecting Rajasthan and Utar Province. Industries include textile, oil extraction, flour, sand turning, tanning, shoemaking, etc. Embroidery, gold and silver crafts, and works of art are very famous.
History and Culture
It was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1566 to 1658. After Akbar moved the capital from Delhi in 1566, he built the magnificent Jahangir Mahal Palace and the bunkers at the head of the Yamuna River. From 1630 to 1652, Shah Jahan built the magnificent Pearl Mosque and the Taj Mahal Mausoleum. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built by Shah Jahan in memory of his late concubine Medaz Mahal. It lasted for 22 years.
There is a tower at each corner, and the height of the mausoleum together with the base and the tower is about 75 meters; this typical Islamic building is one of the most famous tourist attractions in India.
Time suddenly goes back to a certain morning hundreds of years ago, when Emperor Shah Jahan died in this small cell in Agra Fort after being imprisoned by his son for eight years. In this small room, he used to look at the white and graceful Taj Mahal every day. For eight years, this fateful day finally came. His body was transported to a boat and traveled along the river in front of him to that place.
The Taj Mahal, which he once looked at day and night, is buried with Mumdaz Mahal, his beloved wife from Persia. Mumdaz Mahal, the legendary beautiful Persian woman, died giving birth to the fourteenth child of King Shah Jahan. It is said that King Shah Jahan turned white overnight, not only spent twenty years searching for treasures in the world to build for his beloved wife After visiting this miraculous mausoleum, he obeyed his beloved wife’s last words and never married again.
The story could have ended here, but this amorous emperor actually indulged in grief every day and couldn’t extricate himself, and was finally usurped the throne by his son by himself and Mumdaz Mahal, but he seemed happy to pray in this room every day and watch Not far from the Taj Mahal, until finally he was able to sleep with his beloved wife.
Scenic SpotsE
1. Agra Red Fort
Agra became the capital of the Mughal Empire from the founding of Babur the Great in 1526. Later, Akbar the Great moved the capital to Fateh Sikri and did not return to Agra until 1599. Agra is located 240 kilometers south of Delhi and is the most important city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1857, East India overthrew the Mughal regime. From 1858 to 1947, India became a colony under British rule, and since then Agra has ceased to be a political powerhouse of India. The streets in Agra are narrow and retain the style of the Middle Ages. The main tourist attractions include the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatepsikri and other places, among which the Taj Mahal is famous far and wide.
The fame of the Taj Mahal has brought untold wealth to modern Agra. The marble inlay technique inherited from the Taj Mahal has become the mainstream of traditional handicrafts in Agra. Agra Fort is located on a small hill on the banks of the Yamuna River, about 15 kilometers away from the Taj Mahal. This palace with a radius of 1.5 square kilometers has a very majestic appearance. Although the palaces in the fort have gone through a long period of time and are mostly in disrepair, the exquisite carvings and designs on the painted beams and walls still vaguely preserve the grandeur of the past. style.
The aroma of barbecued meat wafting through the ancient capital of Agra has been around since the Mughal Dynasty in the 16th century. Agra has been the imperial capital since Babur, a Turk who believed in Islam, established his country. In particular, Emperor Akbar (the grandfather of Shah Jahan) chose the site of the present-day Agra Fort, and after nearly 8 years, finally built this ancient fort in 1573. It has the dual functions of a palace and a castle. The city wall is 20 meters high. Because it is all made of red sandstone, it emits a dazzling red under the sunlight. Inside the fort there is the famous “Hall of Audience”, where the Mughal emperors received ministers and envoys.
There are also buildings such as Jehangir’s Palace, Octagonal Tower and Moti Masjid (Moti Masjid, also known as Pearl Mosque because it is built with pure white marble, so it is exquisite and elegant). The architecture of Agra Fort is a masterpiece of the peak period of Indo-Islamic art. There were more than 500 buildings in the ancient castle, but few have been preserved to the present. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983. The Jahangir Palace is an important building in the castle. The inner courtyard of the palace is surrounded by two-story buildings. The palace walls are splendid and colorful.
Agra Fort has an octagonal stone tower building. When you climb to the top of the tower, you can see the world-famous Taj Mahal. In front of it is the Yamuna River, which is far away from Agra Fort. It is said that when Shah Jahan was imprisoned in this ancient castle by his third son, he often sat silently in the small building, looking at the Taj Mahal with infinite longing, as if he was talking about his Lonely sad heart.
2. Taj Mahal
You are not a hero without the Great Wall, and you have never been to India without the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is located on the outskirts of Agra. The Taj Mahal in India is one of the seven architectural wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal, also known as the Taj Mahal. A testimony to the love of Shah Jahan, the fifth monarch of the Mughal Empire, for his beloved queen, Mamtaz Mahal. There is actually a moving story behind the construction of the Taj Mahal. It is said that Shah Jahan and the queen were married for 19 years.
The queen died in the 14th birth in 1630. Before her death, she asked the emperor for 4 promises, one of which was Build her a beautiful mausoleum that everyone can look up to. So Shah Jahan spent 5 million rupees and 20,000 craftsmen in 22 years to complete this stunning marble art building as the resting place of his concubine. In 1633, the construction of the Taj Mahal began in a large garden selected by Shah Jahan at the bend of the Yamuna River in northern India. Located in the lower reaches of the Yamuna River, it is very empty, and Shah Jahan can be seen from the Agra Castle on the upper reaches of the river.
Architecture and jewelry are most loved by Shah Jahan, so he chose marble to build the Taj Mahal, and decorated it with countless gems inlaid on the marble with very delicate craftsmanship. More than 20,000 architects, mosaicists, calligraphers, engravers, and masons from the country and Persia, Turkey, and Baghdad in Arabia participated in the construction of the Taj Mahal. This project uses marble from China, gems, crystals and jade from China, agate from Baghdad and Yemen, emerald from Tibet, gems from Sri Lanka, and coral from Arabia. The Taj Mahal changes with the seasons and time.
At dawn, the Taj Mahal is pink, like blooming flowers; at noon, the Taj Mahal is white and dazzling; in the evening, the Taj Mahal is grayish-white, with a soft pearl-like color. When the full moon recedes and the stars twinkle, the Taj Mahal can appear white, tiger amber, gray, and golden yellow. In the cloudy weather, the Taj Mahal appears and disappears like a mirage in the mist that floats in the winter sky. Architectural features: The Taj Mahal occupies a very wide area and consists of the vestibule, the main entrance building, the Mughal garden, the main body of the mausoleum and two mosques.
There are cylindrical towers at the four corners of the main hall of the mausoleum. The special feature is that each tower is inclined outwards by 12 degrees. In the event of an earthquake, it will only fall in all directions without affecting the main hall. No matter from any angle, the pure white Taj Mahal is magnificent and beautiful in shape. With the reflection in the pool in front of the mausoleum, it looks like two Taj Mahals reflect each other. No wonder it is known as one of the seven wonders of the world. . The architecture of the Taj Mahal concentrates the architectural art features of India and Persia. The whole layout is beautiful and harmonious. It is a rare masterpiece in the history of architecture.
Mughal garden: This garden is a typical Persian garden, located in front of the main body, there is a water fountain in the center, and there are two rows of trees that divide the garden into 4 rectangles of the same size, because the word 4 is in Islamic The religion has the meaning of holiness and peace.
The main body of the mausoleum: The main building is octagonal, with a hemispherical dome in the center. The whole main body is built with Shah Jahan’s favorite white marble, and the white marble is inlaid with gems of various colors. Embellished with some beautiful patterns and patterns. During the construction, 18 wells were dug under the main body. Each well was layered with a layer of stone and a layer of teak to reduce the damage of the earthquake to the main body, which shows Shah Jahan’s love for the queen. . The interior of the mausoleum is illuminated only by the sunlight that penetrates from the outside. There are two tombs inside the marble screen, and the real resting place of Shah Jahan and the queen is in another underground crypt.
Romantic and poignant white love song: Taj entered the palace for 19 years and died in the army camp of the Southern Expedition after giving birth to her 14th child in 1630. Shah Jahan was extremely sad. In order to express his thoughts for her, he recruited craftsmen from all over the world to build this extraordinary building. It is said that after the completion of the Taj Mahal, he was more interested in building a mausoleum for himself with pure black marble as the material and with the same structure, opposite to the distance. However, his son Aurangzeb usurped the throne in his later years and imprisoned him in the Agra Fort without even letting him see the Taj Mahal.
It is said that Shah Jahan could only stare at the mausoleum several kilometers away every night through the reflection of a large crystal stone. Shah Jahan was imprisoned until his death seven years later, and his body was buried next to the Taj in the Taj Mahal, perhaps more fitting for the ending of this love story than the burial in a new mausoleum. Mosque: There is a mosque on both sides of the main body, which is made of red sandstone and has a typical white dome on top. The main purpose of building these two mosques is to maintain the balance effect of the entire Taj Mahal building to achieve The beauty of symmetry.
It is said that the most beautiful time of the Taj Mahal is the night when the moon is in the sky, because the white marble mausoleum will glow a touch of purple under the moonlight, elegant and out of the dust, as beautiful as a fairy. However, there are not many good days in the year, and whether you can appreciate them depends on your own luck. However, the Taj Mahal is equally enchanting in the morning and evening. Since the Taj Mahal presents different scenery in the morning, noon and night, it has become the only scenic spot in the world with different fares for morning, noon and evening tours. For Indian tourists, it is only 20 rupees during the day, and at 7 am Before or after 17:00, it rose to 110 rupees. Also, you must remember not to go on a Friday, as that day is only open to local Muslims.
Opening hours: 6:00-20:00 Tickets: 500 rupees + 250 rupees tax for foreigners; 30 rupees for Indians. It is only open to local Muslims every Friday.
3. City Site of Agra City
Ancient capital of India. It is located in the southwest of Uttar Pradesh and 200 kilometers southeast of Delhi on the south bank of the Jumuna River. In 1504, Sekandar Lotti, the second emperor of the Delhi Lodi Dynasty, settled here and built the city of Agra and the palace. In 1526, the Lodi dynasty fell, and the Mughal dynasty continued to use it as the capital. After the third generation of emperor Akbar, he built a large number of buildings, integrating different architectural styles of Islam and Hinduism, and built many buildings with novel styles and unique characteristics.
Agra Palace was built in 1565 and later rebuilt by the fifth emperor Shah Jahan. Because it is built with red sandstone, it is called “Red Fort”. The palaces and palaces are beautiful and unique, including the audience palace with paintings and carved beams, the luxurious and magnificent Privy Palace and the unique mirror palace. Thousands of pieces of glass are inlaid on the walls and ceiling of the Palace of Mirrors, gleaming.
Near the Agra Palace is the Taiji Mahal Mausoleum, which is made of white marble and is as white as snow. In addition, there are also the Tomb of Itimad Daula built for her father by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir the Great Queen Nur Jahan, as well as the Tomb of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, and Fatehpur. Sikri Castle and other cultural relics.
The Victory Palace is 35 kilometers from Agra, Fatepsikli, which was once the capital of the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great (1542-1605) for 12 years. Because he fought a victory in the second year after moving the capital, he called Fatpsikli the Victory City, and the palace was called the Victory Palace. The building materials of the Victory Palace use the most common red sandstone, combined with the architectural styles of India, Central Asia and Persia, majestic yet gorgeous. Now the outer wall has been destroyed, but the palace is still quite intact, the gate is calm and magnificent, and the carvings are exquisite.
The palace where Akbar’s wife lives varies according to different religious beliefs. Among them, the palace of the wife of Islam is the largest, followed by Hinduism and the smallest of Christianity. Fifteen years after the establishment of the Victory Palace, the saint passed away, and the water supply was insufficient, so the royal family had to move the capital back to Agra, and a generation of famous cities went empty.
