Jaipur to Agra

Sunday, November 16 Drove to Fatehpur Sikri, another world heritage site. This site was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1571 in honor of the famous Sufi saint, Salim Chishti, who had promised the childless Akbar would he would have a son and heir. This entire walled city became the capital for fourteen years until Akbar moved away leaving this a ghost town. All its lush decor was plundered but the external structure was saved in no small thanks to the efforts of British Viceroy, Lord Curzon. Our guide pointed out the frescoes, the palaces, the administrative area where the 'supreme court' would meet and make decisions. We went into the mosque built for the holy man Chishti where to this day people leave pieces of string tied to the marble lattice work of the tomb, hoping for a miracle to be granted. If their wish comes true they return to the mosque at a later time and leave a sari and money in thanks. Both the coins and the saris are given to the poor. We hopped back on our bus and headed for Agra...arriving amidst throngs of people going to market, doing their shopping and chatting on the streets. We were staying at an Oberoi again - The Oberoi Amarvilas - which is exactly 600 meters from the Taj complex. The rules are that no building can be built within 500 meters of the Taj in order to help reduce the corrosive effect of auto and household fuels. All cars within that 500 meters must run on batteries, not gas or diesel. The Oberoi by being 600 meters away meets the requirement, but is the closest hotel and it is built in such a way that all guest rooms have a view of the Taj Majal. Were it not for the haze and pollution it would be a splendid view. That evening we had a lecture by Doranne on the roles of women in India. One of her articles, "Behind the Veil", was published in the National Geographic in August, 1977. India still has a very structured family environment where most marriages are arranged by the family and the couple may not know each other until their wedding date. While 'love' marriages are becoming more common, the predominant process is to have the parents make arrangements. On Sunday in the papers one sees page after page of ads looking for appropriate grooms. One most ensure that the partner is of the right caste, economic station, moral station, religious persuasion and a host of other criteria. The bride is still asked to provide a dowry, and while it is outlawed, there are still 'kitchen fire' deaths of young brides who either didn't meet the dowry requirements, or who, god forbid are creating too many girl babies and not the all-important boy. The bride in all cases moves into the home of her new husband and is under the thumb of her new mother-in-law and any sisters in law who are also living under the roof. She remains subordinate to the women and is expected to take orders from the senior woman. She keeps herself veiled to her in-laws until such time as she provides the precious grandson, at which point her own status is moved up a few notches and she may even become dominant over the has-been mother-in-law. While there are women who have broken out of this mold of subservience, they are a distinct minority and while divorce is permitted it would bring such shame to the family and would prove so devastating to the woman, that it rarely is exercised. Of course, as Prakash, our Indian tour coordinator told us, the parents work very hard to provide an appropriate mate for their daughter and whereas in the western world one loves and then is married, in India one marries and comes to love ones spouse. He explained that since his own father died very early, he became the 'man of the family' and arranged the marriages of all his sisters, and he himself continues to live with his mother, his wife and various other members of his family under the same roof. (This whole structure is so new to me that I will have to read more to understand it better). And as I was reminded: every family is different. Monday, November 17 In order to see the Taj Mahal in its early morning beauty where it is bathed in the sunrise, our group awoke at 5:30 in order to be at the doors of the Taj Mahal at 6:00 a.m. The big fort-like doors opened at 6:30 and we went through some of the tightest security I've ever seen outside of an airport. Because this is such an iconic structure, and because of unrest in the country, we were advised to bring as little as possible with us. I had brought the 'frog' of the Peacham , Vermont, Library with me, wanting to pose him in front of the building, but he was taken from me by the security guards who couldn't trust that he wasn't carrying some dangerous weapon in his soft body. We all were given white cloth shoe covers so that when we walked on the marble structure we would not mar the surface, and as always the perennial hawkers were there promising us gems beyond belief. When we had come through security we were at a large portal structure from which one could see the Taj at the end of a long reflecting pool. We were told that we were really looking at the back door of the building since most guests would have arrived by water on the River Yamuna. But this is the view that we all have seen a million times, and while I knew what to expect, it still stood out so clean and pristine and perfectly proportioned. Even shrouded in pollution it was beautiful. The building is an octagon with four minarets, one at each corner, designed in case of earthquake to fall away from the building, not into it. At either side are two buildings which have absolutely no purpose than to provide symmetry and balance. We were given lots of information on Shah Jahan the Mughal emperor who built this to honor the death of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. We learned that he himself took a strong hand in much of the building and that it took over 20,000 workers more than 22 years to complete the structure in 1653. While I thought the building was built entirely of marble, it is actually built of red brick with a marble facade only. The Pietra Dura was astounding with jewels and semi-precious stones used to create intricate floral designs inlaid in the marble. Uncle Walter, in his visit in 1928, waxed eloquent, and felt this was the sight of his life-time; and while Daddy also enjoyed it, he felt that Walter had gone a 'little over the top'. My own impressions were mixed. I appreciate the pure beauty of the structure and the thought that this was built in love, but I think I will always favor the Acropolis, perhaps because it was the first of these iconic structures with which I became familiar. We noted that below the T.M. they were monitoring the level of pollution around the building, and it appeared on a ticker tape readout, looking at first like a stock exchange reader. It has lasted more than 400 years, but without a strong reduction in pollution levels, I find it unlikely that it will be standing so perfectly in 2000 years. It was glorious being at the site so early in the morning with far fewer crowds and the opportunity to get a sense of the place without ducking a million people. Our tour guide told us that he had taken Bill Clinton around the site and that, in the guest book he signed, he wrote something to this aefect: "From now on the world is divided into two groups - those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who haven't. I'm pleased to have joined the club of those who have." We returned to the hotel for breakfast (after retrieving the frog from security) and had a chance to relax at the hotel. We were then taken to the Agra Fort, which sits across the river from the Taj Mahal. This was built by Akbar and contains a complex of buildings, mosques, palace rooms and large courtyards. There is now a large military barracks attached which was an addition by the British, and which is off-limits since it continues to serve that purpose. There are a series of small areas in which lived the harem, the elegant rooms used by Akbar, and the very sad smaller rooms in which Shah Jahan(grandson of Akbar) was imprisoned in his last years (by his own son, Aurangzeb) and from which he was able to look across to the beautiful tomb he had built for his wife. While the history of this period in India was all new to me, I'm slowly beginning to grasp the lineage of the various Mughal rulers and to place it in context with what was going on in Europe at the same time. At 5:30 we returned to see the sunset at the T.M. and to take our group photograph. It was distinctly more crowded and the lines outside to get in were lengthy. But we all had a chance to wander quietly on our own without being given information, and promptly at 6:30 the site was closed and we returned to the hotel for dinner and bed.