Drove out to Sikri - about 40 ks from Agra.
The history was fascinating, involving Akbar, the 3rd Mogul Emporer ( the Grandfather of Shah Jehan who built the Taj Mahal ) and apparently the greatest of the Moghul Emporers.
He reigned from 1556 to 1605 and seems to have been very forward thinking.
As he conquered many lands he married princesses to cement the political unions. Although he was Moslem, his main wives were a Hindu, a Moslem and a Christian.
(He had many unofficial 'wives' also and you can still see the side gate where they entered the kings rooms secretly at night)
He was living in Delhi and Agra but did not have an heir, and so walked to the Moslem Holy Man in Fatehpur, next to Sigri and promised that if he had an heir he would build his main Fort next door in Sikri.
The Hindu wife produced an heir for him and he duly built his fort at Sikri.
( He later move back to the fort at Agra because the water in Sikri turned salty).
He enjoyed music and built a concert stand right outside his own palace, on a pond to improve the accoustics.
All the decorations throughout the red sandstone Fort show symbols from multiple religions.
On a pillar there are from the top, Christian, Moslem and Hindu symbols.
The ceiling in the Moslem wife's palace has stars of David (Jewish), Christianity and Islam.
Later in life he invented his own religion which believed all people had one God who would give peace to all men. However, he didn't believe in Missionary work or forcing his subjects to accept his universal brand of religion, so there were few followers and it died out pretty quickly !
Its a shame his ideas of universal religious openness and tolerance aren't more in evidence globally today.
Next door to the Fort, the Moslem Holy Centre at Fatehpur, contains the large "Friday" Mosque which boasts a magnificent arched entry on one side - the Buland Gate - which is 54 metres high and placed high above ground level.
And typical of the Emporer Akbar, this Mosque gateway is also decorated with a verse from the teachings of Jesus Christ which is engraved in the sandstone !!
When we returned to Agra we saw the "Little Taj Mahal" Palace on the other side of the river.
And we also walked down to the river bank on the other side of the river to have a last look at the real Taj Mahal in the evening sun.
The history was fascinating, involving Akbar, the 3rd Mogul Emporer ( the Grandfather of Shah Jehan who built the Taj Mahal ) and apparently the greatest of the Moghul Emporers.
He reigned from 1556 to 1605 and seems to have been very forward thinking.
As he conquered many lands he married princesses to cement the political unions. Although he was Moslem, his main wives were a Hindu, a Moslem and a Christian.
(He had many unofficial 'wives' also and you can still see the side gate where they entered the kings rooms secretly at night)
He was living in Delhi and Agra but did not have an heir, and so walked to the Moslem Holy Man in Fatehpur, next to Sigri and promised that if he had an heir he would build his main Fort next door in Sikri.
The Hindu wife produced an heir for him and he duly built his fort at Sikri.
( He later move back to the fort at Agra because the water in Sikri turned salty).
He enjoyed music and built a concert stand right outside his own palace, on a pond to improve the accoustics.
All the decorations throughout the red sandstone Fort show symbols from multiple religions.
On a pillar there are from the top, Christian, Moslem and Hindu symbols.
The ceiling in the Moslem wife's palace has stars of David (Jewish), Christianity and Islam.
Its a shame his ideas of universal religious openness and tolerance aren't more in evidence globally today.
Next door to the Fort, the Moslem Holy Centre at Fatehpur, contains the large "Friday" Mosque which boasts a magnificent arched entry on one side - the Buland Gate - which is 54 metres high and placed high above ground level.
And typical of the Emporer Akbar, this Mosque gateway is also decorated with a verse from the teachings of Jesus Christ which is engraved in the sandstone !!
When we returned to Agra we saw the "Little Taj Mahal" Palace on the other side of the river.
And we also walked down to the river bank on the other side of the river to have a last look at the real Taj Mahal in the evening sun.
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