The next place we went in Agra was the Fort. (Insert some historical text).
On the way in I spotted the Taj Mahal for the first time, you can barely see it at this resolution, but it is in the middle of this picture. It's a captivating sight that calls for you to take pictures of it. So there are a number of pictures in this set of pictures of the fort that feature the Taj in the background.
The fort is walled in with this moat that is no longer full of water, but I imagine it used to be.
The outer entrance.
The inner entrance where you present your ticket (250 rupees).
After the inner entrance there is still this long walkway, before going through another gate.
This is the first building you see when you enter.At first I thought that this might be all there is to it and I lamented paying more for this than we paid to get into Sikandra (Akbar's tomb). I still think Sikandra was a more impressive sight, but this fort was also amazing. All the red colored buildings are made from red sandstone.
Sita coming down some stairs that we were trying to ascend, before encountering a gate. You know us, if it looks like we can go somewhere we'll try and go there.
Part of the fort is in ruins.
Zoomed in.
Incredible sandstone work.
This is a random picture of a dark room that had restricted access. It only had a couple of small openings so I set the camera to flash and stuck my hand in with the camera to see what was inside; nothing. Now that I'm thinking about it I realized what room in a fort would have small openings allowing hardly any light inside. It's probably a cell.
Another spot to look at the Taj Mahal.
One of several courtyards.
The fountain/pool in the middle of the courtyard pictured above.
The mughals emperor Shah Jahan, commisioned the Taj Mahal as a monument to honor his favorite wife (the only one to bear him children), named Mumtaz. He also commisioned a place inside the fort in her honor named Musamman Burj. This is a picture of it from the outside.
Me inspecting part of the fort, someone decided to plaster over the original sandstone in this area. I don't know if it was the British or the Indians, but it's coming off.
Here you can see the space between the fort and the outer wall.
The moat had some water in it, as you can see here.
Another view of Musamman Burj from the outside.
This is an area of marble work next to Musamman Burj.
Another picture of the Taj from the fort.
This is Musamman Burj where Shah Jahan viewed the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in this fort by his son Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan had laid the foundation for a Black Taj Mahal to be constuced in his honor on the other side of the Yamuna river. His son said that the Black Taj Mahal was too much of a waste of public funds and that the treasury was being drained for these projects, so he imprisoned his father.
These windows allowed the women of the court to look out at the Taj without being looked in upon.
Originally a lot of the marble had intricate decorative painting as well.
This flower was made of gold paint and gold inlaid into the marble.
A Beautiful carved-fountain.
More photos of Musamman Burj.
Marble with semi-precious stones inlaid.
Some of the semi-precious stone inlay is damaged or missing. Unfortunately, thievery (not just decay) is a main cause.
We weren't the only ones enamored with the Taj and drawn to take pictures.
This is the white mosque where Shah Jahan prayed we had to take our shoes off to enter.
Water features inside the mosque.
Sita loved the light effects of these windows so we posed for some pictures here.
Me pretending to meditate, but really just posing.
If there's nothing stopping me from going there I'll go there, even if it's a ledge.
I think this picture has a really great effect, it appears that the ledge is at the same level as the bricks below. My body covers the transitions in the corner so it creates a real MC Escher type of picture.
More incredible marble and inlay work.
There was a well inside the fort.
A cute kid running around speaking gibberish to everyone.
The background of this picture is an area of the fort that we couldn't go to, but wanted to.
These next few pics are from an area that was also not one of the main tourist areas, but there was nothing stopping me from going there so I went and took pictures.
Another view of the Taj Mahal on the way out.
On the way in I spotted the Taj Mahal for the first time, you can barely see it at this resolution, but it is in the middle of this picture. It's a captivating sight that calls for you to take pictures of it. So there are a number of pictures in this set of pictures of the fort that feature the Taj in the background.
The fort is walled in with this moat that is no longer full of water, but I imagine it used to be.
The outer entrance.
The inner entrance where you present your ticket (250 rupees).
After the inner entrance there is still this long walkway, before going through another gate.
This is the first building you see when you enter.At first I thought that this might be all there is to it and I lamented paying more for this than we paid to get into Sikandra (Akbar's tomb). I still think Sikandra was a more impressive sight, but this fort was also amazing. All the red colored buildings are made from red sandstone.
Sita coming down some stairs that we were trying to ascend, before encountering a gate. You know us, if it looks like we can go somewhere we'll try and go there.
Part of the fort is in ruins.
Zoomed in.
Incredible sandstone work.
This is a random picture of a dark room that had restricted access. It only had a couple of small openings so I set the camera to flash and stuck my hand in with the camera to see what was inside; nothing. Now that I'm thinking about it I realized what room in a fort would have small openings allowing hardly any light inside. It's probably a cell.
Another spot to look at the Taj Mahal.
One of several courtyards.
The fountain/pool in the middle of the courtyard pictured above.
The mughals emperor Shah Jahan, commisioned the Taj Mahal as a monument to honor his favorite wife (the only one to bear him children), named Mumtaz. He also commisioned a place inside the fort in her honor named Musamman Burj. This is a picture of it from the outside.
Me inspecting part of the fort, someone decided to plaster over the original sandstone in this area. I don't know if it was the British or the Indians, but it's coming off.
Here you can see the space between the fort and the outer wall.
The moat had some water in it, as you can see here.
Another view of Musamman Burj from the outside.
This is an area of marble work next to Musamman Burj.
Another picture of the Taj from the fort.
This is Musamman Burj where Shah Jahan viewed the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in this fort by his son Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan had laid the foundation for a Black Taj Mahal to be constuced in his honor on the other side of the Yamuna river. His son said that the Black Taj Mahal was too much of a waste of public funds and that the treasury was being drained for these projects, so he imprisoned his father.
These windows allowed the women of the court to look out at the Taj without being looked in upon.
Originally a lot of the marble had intricate decorative painting as well.
This flower was made of gold paint and gold inlaid into the marble.
A Beautiful carved-fountain.
More photos of Musamman Burj.
Marble with semi-precious stones inlaid.
Some of the semi-precious stone inlay is damaged or missing. Unfortunately, thievery (not just decay) is a main cause.
We weren't the only ones enamored with the Taj and drawn to take pictures.
This is the white mosque where Shah Jahan prayed we had to take our shoes off to enter.
Water features inside the mosque.
Sita loved the light effects of these windows so we posed for some pictures here.
Me pretending to meditate, but really just posing.
If there's nothing stopping me from going there I'll go there, even if it's a ledge.
I think this picture has a really great effect, it appears that the ledge is at the same level as the bricks below. My body covers the transitions in the corner so it creates a real MC Escher type of picture.
More incredible marble and inlay work.
There was a well inside the fort.
A cute kid running around speaking gibberish to everyone.
The background of this picture is an area of the fort that we couldn't go to, but wanted to.
These next few pics are from an area that was also not one of the main tourist areas, but there was nothing stopping me from going there so I went and took pictures.
Another view of the Taj Mahal on the way out.
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