RSS Feed (xml)
Who is Akbar the Great?
According to Wikipedia, Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (October 15, 1542 - October 27, 1605), was the third Mughal Emperor of India; the son of Humayun, and the grandson of Babur who founded the dynasty. At the end of his reign in 1605, the Mughal empire covered most of Northern India.Akbar, widely considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors, was 13 years old when he ascended the throne in Delhi, following the death of his father Humayun. During his reign, he eliminated military threats from the Pashtun descendants of Sher Shah Suri, and at the Second Battle of Panipat, defeated the Hindu king Hemu. It took him nearly 2 more decades to consolidate his power and bring parts of northern and central India into his realm. The emperor solidified his rule by pursuing diplomacy with the powerful Rajput caste, and be admitting Rajput princesses in his harem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbar_the_Great
Trivia: In 2008, director Ashutosh Gowariker released a film telling the story of Akbar and his wife Hira Hunwari (Jodha Bai), titled Jodhaa Akbar. Akbar was played by Hrithik Roshan and Jodha Bai by Aishwarya Rai.
The Construction
Akbar the Great himself started the construction of his tomb, which was according to Tartary tradition to start the construction of one's tomb during one's lifetime. He planned his own tomb and chose a suitable site for it, but it was after his death that his son, Jahangir completed the construction.
The Location
It is located at Sikandra, in the suburbs of Agra, on the Mathura road (NH2), 8 km WNW of the city center.About 1 km away from the tomb, lies Mariam's Tomb, the tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani, wife of the Mughal Emperor Akbar and the mother of Jehangir.
the external entrance from the road, built to imitate the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri, the city Akbar founded.
me at the entrance
Funny story: while I was posing at the entrance door above, there were 2 local Indian boys who were looking at me and L. When we finished, they went to the same entrance and struck a pose. However, they were looking at us. L and I thought that maybe they wanted us to take their picture, so I smiled at them and said, "You want to take picture?" while gesturing with my hands as if I was holding and clicking a camera. They both nodded, and one of them remained under the frame while another went down to stand beside me. I was waiting for them to give their camera to me but the one who was standing under the frame had the camera and not the one who stood beside me. L and I looked at each other, confused and I said, "(your) camera? give to me?" then they nodded and looked at us again. Still confused, I said, "oh wait, you mean you want to take me and my friend's picture?" They looked at each other, also becoming confused. I've started to become exasperated because they just kept gesturing at us and they never responded to any of my questions. So I was looked at them and I said, "So what? Will i take your picture or not?" Then they looked at each other, and saw them shaking their heads and left us. How odd.. L and I wondered what happened. We talked about it until we realized.. maybe then wanted to take a picture with us!! Maybe that's why one of the boys stood beside me.
The Architecture Details
The buildings are constructed mainly from a deep red sandstone, enriched with features in white marble. Decorated inlaid panels of these materials and a black slate adorn the tomb and the main gatehouse. Panel designs are geometric, floral and calligraphic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikandra,_Agra
inlay panels on the entrance gate
inside this building lies the tomb of Akbar
Right outside the entrance, we had to take off our shoes and leave them outside
the ceiling and side panels inside the building before going down to the tomb
As we went inside and admired the ceilings and side panels (above), there was a local guide who kept standing beside me, spouting all those history about Akbar the Great, at first I listened, but when I realised that I may have to pay this guy when I leave, I started avoiding him, but I was no match to the very persistent and seasoned guide. He stayed by my side and kept telling me stuff about the whole place even when I wasnt listening. L was smarter, she didn't stand beside me and went around the area by herself.. leaving me at the mercy of the guide.
tomb of Akbar the Great, he's buried 7ft under
We finally went inside the tomb where another local guy was chanting and saying some Hindi words which i interpreted as some prayer and he sounded the bell atop the crypt. I was about to leave when he called me (and being a nice girl..grr), I looked at him and he gave me some flower petals and said, "throw flowers unto the crypt" and so I followed him (without any idea what it was for) and then he said, "now, you give donation". WTF!!! caught me by surprise but I didn't dare react coz there were other local and foreign tourists. Good thing I had 20rupees in my wallet so I quickly fished them out and put it on the crypt.
Going out the entrance, I was already trying to avoid the pesky guide but he kept walking right beside me even while I was making a rude sound and shaking my head. When I was out and getting my shoes, the guide was holding out his hand and I had no choice but to shove another 20 rupees to him. Of course, the guy "guarding" my shoes also had his hands out and I gave him another 20 rupees. After I each gave them tips, they looked at me as if unhappy (I guess they expected more but I no longer had enough change - we were still going to Taj Mahal and I suspect we might ran out of loose change) so I ignored their nasty looks and quickly joined L back to the car.
0 comments:
Post a Comment