Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Cooking Demonstration

17th September 2018

It is an early start for our trip to the Taj Mahal, which only about 10 minutes away, because it is best viewed at sunrise or sunset. We agreed on a 6.30am start from the hotel and got there in plenty of time. The crowd was also a lot less than we expected.

Once you arrive at the carpark, you then have to catch an electric golf buggy to the ticket office and mani gate. I think it is to make room for all of the souvenir stores, restaurants and annoying hawkers near the gate rather than use the area as a car park. We had the same experience at Fateh Sikri yesterday, although the golf carts here were considerably more comfortable than the beaten up buses yesterday. As soon as you see the main gate you can tell this place is special.

Main Entry gate

Built on the South bank of the Yamuna River, the Taj Mahal (Crown of the Palace) is an ivory white mausoleum built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

It was completed in 1653, and purportedly required a team of 20,000 artisans.

Photographs do not do this stunning building justice

The Taj Mahal faces South

This photo is taken from the Eastern side

Photography inside the building is not allowed, as it houses the tombs of Shah Jahan and his wife for whom it was built. The real tombs are below entry level, so a replica is built on the ground floor, which you can walk around.

There is more than enough to see on the outside of the building and the workmanship of its decoration is astounding

The border of this carved panel is made stone inlaid into the marble, some of it semiprecious gems.

Either side of the Taj Mahal, are two identical red sandstone buildings. The one on the left is a Mosque which is still in use today.

This one is still an operating mosque

Looking down the river to Agra Fort, our next port of call

Having spent a good 1.5 hours taking in the beauty of the Taj Mahal, we went back to our hotel for breakfast. Our next visit is to the Agra Fort, also on the South Bank of the same river, and our driver and guide pick us up at 9 am to continue our tour.

Agra Fort is massive and only 15% ofit is availble tomthe public. The army occupy a good part of the rest of it as their Agra Headquarters. Agra is home to one of the largest airforce bases in India.

The fort was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar, the same one who build Fateh Sikri. He move from there to this Fort after only occupying Fateh Sikri for a short time.

The outer entrance to the fort is over a moat that used to be filled with crocodile infested water

Inner gate to the fort

Looking back towards the gate once inside

Once inside the fort through the Amar Singh Gate you enter the court district and are confronted with the massive Jahangir Palace, built by Akbar ad named after his successor.

Jahangir's Palace

Entrance to the Palace

Inner Courtyard

The bath for the Queen below was filled via a channel running across the courtyard from the building above

Shah Jahan, grandson of Akbar, pulled down a number of his red sandstone buildings and replaced them with buildings made of white marble. (it was Shah Jahan that built the Taj Mahal from the same marble)

This public meeting hall was one such building

Inside the hall the King would be seated in this elevated box which was decorated with gemstones including the famous Koh i Noor diamond

A royal bedroom

Garden of the Grapes (a recreational area for the ladies of the court)

This Palace had a scalloped edged pool with fountains in front of it

Also within the fort is a private Mosque known as the Pearl Mosque, but it is not accessible to the public

The photos below are of the Palace in which Shah Jahan sent the last 8 years of his life, imprisoned by his own son who had seized power from him.

He could see the Taj Mahal from this Palace

and finally we exited through the Elephant Gate

Our final activity for the day is a cooking demonstration in the home of a local family, however it is now only 10.30am, so we head back to the hotel for a rest before our driver will collect us at 12.30pm.

The local house (it turns our to be a small homestay setup), is located out of Agra city in a security estate. The driver dropped us off, and we were not too sure what to expect, as we thought the local agent for our travel company would meet us there, but that was not the case.

It was a very relaxed affair, with the lady of the house taking charge. The tour company has paid for the demo and lunch, but the husband offers to sell us some drinks if we are interested. We took him up on the offer as his wife explained the type of typical meal an Indian family in Agra would

eat, and today she is going to demonstrate cooking a very simple potato dish and chapati made from scratch. Most families here are vegetarians.

This collection of herbs and spices provide the base for just about everything they eat, Seeds are cumin, fenugreek and mustard seeds and spices are turmeric, coriander powder and red chilli powder and of course salt. Sometimes they substitute fresh green chilli for red chilli powder for milder heat.

Rice bran oil was heated in the pan, although they normally use mustard seed oil but thought it may be too pungent for us. Once hot, cumin seed and chopped green chilli are added, then cubed cooked and peeled potato.

She then mixed it around in the pan, added turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder and fresh coriander and mixed it around, turned down the heat and put on the lid and let it simmer.

It was now time to make chapatis and Grandma was wheeled for this task, A bit of whole wheat flour, some salt and mix in some water to get the right consistency and the dough was made. After 5 mins resting it was formed into small balls and rolled flat.

It was then onto a hot iron plate for a quick cook on either side.

and then we saw the trick to cooking a good chapati, it was taken off the plate (at this stage the consistency of a soft taco, and put over the naked flame until it "popped".

The Carole had a crack at rolling a chapati. It was given the tick of approval by Grandma and onto the stove it went.

We then sat down to a meal of the potato curry, 3 other vegetarian dishes that were pre cooked, our chapatis and some rice. it was a very tasty meal and so deceptively easy to cook.

The family were lovely and we spent some time talking to them about all sorts of things. They have set up their home as a homestay, or B&B. We were given a tour of the rooms they rent out which are very well set up, and quite isolated from the living area they occupy. They said it was early days, but the cooking demonstrations are working well for them, often doing lunch and dinner. The accommodation side is beginning to pick up.

It was a nice way to have lunch and get a bit better feel for the locals, and get a few tips on Indian cooking.

Afterwards, our driver took us back to the hotel, and we have the afternoon free. As we have been up since the crack of dawn, that suits us fine.

Tomorrow we drive to New Delhi, with the usual 9am start, and no stopovers planned this time.