Places to See in Agra
Sikandra Fort
Welcome
to Sikandra, a supurb of Agra, only 13 km. from the Agra Fort, the last resting
place of the Mughal emperor Akbar. Akbar was the greatest of the Mughal emperors
and one of the most secular minded royalties of his time. He was the heir to
a long tradition of oriental refinement, a great patron of the arts, literature,
philosophy and science.
A visit to Akbar's monument opens before one, the completeness of Akbar's personality
as completely as the Taj Mahal does of Mumtaz Mahal's. Akbar's vast, beautifully
carved, red-ochre sandstone tomb is set amidst a lush garden. Akbar himself
planned his own tomb and selected a suitable site for it. To construct a tomb
in one's lifetime was a Tartary custom which the Mughals followed religiously.
Akbar's son Jahangir completed the construction of this pyramidal tomb in 1613.
APPROACH:
One can approach the monument from the Southern gate only. Ticket counter is
located to the left of this gate.
THE GARDEN:
The tomb stands in the center of a vast garden, which is enclosed by high walls
on all sides. In the middles of each enclosing wall is a monumental gateway.
The whole garden is divided into four equal quarters on the conventional charbhag
plan. Each quarter is separated by a high terrace or raised path with a narrow
shallow water channel running at the center. Each terrace has in the center,
a tank with fountains.
GATEWAY:
Although there is only one entrance in use today there exist four red sandstone
gates which lead to the mausoleum complex. The decoration on the gateways is
strikingly bold, with large mosaic patterns set into it. The gateway's four
minarets rising from the corners are particularly striking. Built of red sandstone,
the minarets are inlaid with white marble polygonal patterns; the pleasing Proportions
& Profuse surface ornamentation makes the gateways very impressive. These
gateways reflect a curious hybrid of different styles of architecture-Hindu,
Muslim Christian and a patent mixture of Akbar's typical style.
MAUSOLEUM:
A broad paved causeway lead to the tomb, which has five storeys and is in the
shape of a truncated pyramid. The main tomb has a unique square design which
is unparalleled by all other Mughal buildings,
GROUND FLOOR:
The ground floor has spacious cloisters on all four sides except in the middle
of the southern side. The cloisters are divided into numerous bays by massive
piers & arches. Each bay measures 22 feet square. The centre of the southern
side is occupied by a vestibule, which has been ornamented very profusely with
exquisite carvings, artistic paintings & inlay work in geometric and floral
designs. An inclined and descending passage leads from this vestibule to the
mortuary chamber. The tombstone of Akbar is placed in the centre of this room.
Geometrical designs achieved by the mosaics of glazed tiles or of colored stones,
predominate the tomb. The mosaic work is generally in the tass eleated style,
that is, square or rectangular pieces of colored stones were assembled and arranged
together to form patterns. Semi-precious stones were inlaid into a hollowed
depression in the white marble slab by Emperor Jahangir later on . Akbar's daughters
Shakrul Nisha Begum and Aram Bano are also entombed on this floor.
SECOND STOREY:
The second storey has an arcaded verandah on each side which is composed of
23 bays. The use of an ornamental arch and square pillar has brought about unique
composition.
THIRD AND FOURTH STOREYS:
These storeys are smaller in size than the one below it. They have an identical
arrangement of arches supported on pilllars and chhatris attached on the exterior
to each façade.
FIFTH STOREY:
The fifth storey is entirely in white marble as against the lower storeys which
are finished in red sandstone.
ITMAD-UD-DAULA:
Itmad-ud-Daula is the tomb of Mirza Ghiyas Beg, a Persian who had obtained service
in Akbar's court. The tomb set a starting precedent as the first Mughal building
to be face with white inlaid marble and contrasting stones. Unlike the Taj it
is small, intimate and, since it is less frequented, has a gentle serenity.
ABOUT MIRZA GHIYAS BEG:
Mirza Ghiyas Beg was the son of Khawaja Muhammad Sharif who was the wazir (Prime
Minister) of Khurasan and then of Yazd under the Safawid Emperors of Persia.
After the death of his father, Mirza Ghiyas came to India and was introduced
to Akbar who enrolled him in the imperial service. Mirza was an able man and
rose high by the sheer dint of his merit. On Jahangir's succession in 1605 he
became Wazir and received the title of Itmad-ud-Daula (Pillar of Government).
Jahangir fell in love with his daughter Mehrunnissa, better known as Nurjahan,
and married her in 1611. It was Nur Jahan who built the tomb for her father
in 1628 AD, 6 years after his death.
ENTRANCE:
A sandstone pathway leads to the main tomb which stands on a low platform (4m
high and 45m square). The tomb is in the centre of a Charbagh, the four-quartered
garden, measuring 540 ft and enclosed on all sides by high walls.
THE GARDEN SETTING:
False gateways, which may be appropriately called water-pavilions, have been
constructed in the centre of the north and south sides. The west side has in
its middles a multi- storeyed and multi-roomed pavilion. It overhangs the river
impressively and is so open and abundantly airy that it could have served the
purpose of a pleasure-pavilion during the lifetime of Itmad-ud-Daula . These
subsidiary structures magnificently flank the central edifice on all sides.
The shallow water-channels, which originally took water from two overhead tanks
situated on the riverside, run on all sides of the garden and around the mausoleum.
Sunk in the middles of the raised, stone-paved pathways and associated with
regularly set lotus ponds and cascades, the channels divide the charbagh into
four equal quarters, stretching from the middle of each side to the centre of
the plinth of the main mausoleum.
THE
MAIN TOMB:
The main gateway, and also the side pavilions, are constructed of red sandstone,
with inlaid designs in white marble. The main tomb is of white marble but it
stands on a plinth of red sandstone, having in the centre, of each side opposite
the central arch, a tank with a fountain. The tomb is square in plan, with octagonal
towers attached to the corners. The towers attain a circular form above the
terrace and are surmounted by circular chhatris. Each façade of the tomb
is composed of three arches, the central one providing the entrance, the other
two on the sides being closed with beautiful trellis screens. Each side is protected
above by a chhjja and a perforated balustrade. The jalies have been carved very
delicately and appear more to be made of ivory rather than of white marble.
The tomb has inscriptional designs in abundance. More than seventy six Quranic
verses in the Hiuluth script have been artistically carved on white marble panels
which are distributed all over the building.
THE INTERIOR OF THE TOMB:
The interior is composed of a central mortuary hall housing the cenotaphs of
Nur Jahan's mother Asmat Begum and father Itmad-ud-Daula, four oblong rooms
on the sides and four square chambers on the corners-all interconnected through
common doorways. The corner rooms contain tombstones of some near relations
of Nur Jahan including that of her daughter Ladli Begum from her first husband
Sher Afghan. Marble screens of geometric lattice work permit soft lightning
of the inner chamber. Engraved on the walls of the chamber is the recurring
theme of a wine flask with snakes as handles. The main chamber which contains
the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula and his wife, is richly decorated with mosaics and
semi-precious stones inlaid in white marble.
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