Day 9 - Agra

Today we left Jaipur and drove to Agra. It is about a 6-hour drive from Jaipur to Agra. On our way out of town, we stopped and visited a famous Hindu temple in Jaipur - Govind Dev Ji Temple.

A picture from our ornate hotel in Jaipur

Last night Alison was looking at a list of the top sites in Jaipur and this was one of the few we did not visit. We talked to our tour company and they were happy to add it to our itinerary. Our driver got us close to the temple and gave us directions to walk to the temple gate.

On our way to visit the temple, there were many monkeys. The locals were feeding bananas to the monkeys. 

Inside the temple we observed many people worshipping. They were praying, chanting, singing, and dancing. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, and one of the central features is a shrine containing one of his reincarnations. We did not really understand the significance of the rituals that were being performed. What we did observe was that the people at this temple seemed very happy and joyful. I am glad we took a few minutes of our day to observe these people’s devotion.

The view of the royal palace from the temple complex 

We found our driver waiting for us outside the temple complex and we were on our way to Agra. The drive from Jaipur to Agra is mostly countryside. We passed many green fields, some of which contained crops such as corn, barley, and cauliflower. We also passed hundreds of cows, bulls, and water buffalo. These animals are very important in this area because of the labor and milk they provide.

Somewhere between Jaipur and Agra, we stopped at a very colorful and ornate temple. We have absolutely no idea what this building was, but our driver thought we would want to stop and take a look because of the vibrant colors and ornate handiwork. He was right, we very much enjoyed the vibrant beauty of the temple.

We also stopped at a type of rest stop midway between Jaipur and Agra. This stop had restrooms and they sold knickknacks and snacks/beverages.

When we were about an hour out from the main city of Agra we picked up our guide, Shankar Tomar. This particular guide is good friends with our driver. Our driver described him as a simple man. This description proved to be accurate as he was a humble and kind human being.

As we were driving the closer we got to Agra the stormier it became. There was one stretch where the rain was pouring down in sheets. During that particular portion of the drive, the road was not even visible. I was nervous. The forecast for Agra was not looking good. The weather app showed a high probability of rain/thunderstorms for both tonight and tomorrow morning. I was going to be devastated if it was rainy the entire time we were at the Taj Mahal.

Our itinerary called for us to visit one site with our guide before continuing into Agra. Because it was raining (and because we were hungry) we opted to eat before going sightseeing. We hoped this would allow the rain to pass. That kind of worked - it would continue raining a little at the start of the sightseeing, but then it tapered off.

The site we were visiting was Fatehpur Sikri. This is an ancient city built by Emperor Ackbar.  It was the capital of his Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585 until it was abandoned. Ackbar built the city to commemorate a wise Sheikh who lived in the area and predicted the birth of Ackbar’s son and successor, Jahangir. The city is massive. It is built along a 3-kilometer ridge and is built primarily of red sandstone. The city is very beautiful with a lot of ornate detail and stunning architecture. We were not particularly excited about this site - we really just wanted to hurry up and see the Taj Mahal, but we very much enjoyed this site.

After visiting the palaces and residential areas of the city Shankar wanted to know if we wanted to take a few minutes to visit the mosque in the city or if we wanted to move on. We are always interested in visiting religious sites so of course we said yes. We are so glad we opted to visit this site. The mosque was large and stunning. Inside the mosque is the tomb of the sheik that inspired Ackbar to build the city. We visited the tomb, which is inside an ornate building. The tomb itself is covered with mother of pearl, giving it a striking appearance. One of the traditions of this tomb is to tie a small piece of string to the stone grate while you make a wish. We both tied a string to the grate and Alison wished for beautiful weather while we visited the Taj Mahal. Her wish was granted.

After the mosque, we hurried back to our vehicle and drove into Agra. The city of Agra has more poverty than Jaipur and even Dehli. We passed by a lot of nomadic people who were living in makeshift tents. One of the hard aspects of visiting India is the poverty. It is heartbreaking.

Our guide and driver were telling us all about Agra and Udder Pradesh (the state Agra is in) as we drove. Our driver told us a great joke as we were driving. He reminded us about the government buildings we saw in Delhi and how he had shown us the building that houses the parliament. He then told us he was going to show us another parliament. As we came around a corner there was an old abandoned building crawling with monkeys - our driver told us this is the monkey parliament. He busted up laughing at this joke.

Our last stop of the day was the Mahtab Bagh or moonlit garden. This was originally a garden that was used in the cool of the night as a place to view the Taj Mahal. Over time it was lost and ruined, but was re-excavated in the 1990s. It is a beautiful garden with unbelievable views of the Taj Mahal. The earlier storm had passed and the weather was beautiful. We the next ~90 magical minutes watching the sunset on the Taj Mahal.

This building is breathtaking. It is the reason we came to India and was more beautiful and grand than I imagined. The Taj Mahal is one of the 7 wonders of the modern world (in fact, it is our 5th of the 7 wonders) and I would at it is the most beautiful of the wonders we have seen. The white marble is flawless and shimmers and sparkles in the fading light. It was the perfect way to end our first day in Agra.

We checked into our hotel. From our room, we had a view of the Taj Mahal. However, they do not light the Taj Mahal up at night so we would have to wait until morning to enjoy the view. We had a nice tandoori dinner at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant. It was a nice open-air venue with live music. It was a really nice setting for our last real dinner in India’. It is crazy that tomorrow night we are heading home. We have loved India and after today we really do not want this trip to come to an end.