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We woke up at 6:15 a.m. and I went downstairs to get Mukul to bring our running hot water as per his insistence. He was on the computer and soon came running up with me with the bucketful of hot water. We took our showers and at around 7 o’clock Mukul brought up a tray with tea and cookies. We packed everything up and then went downstairs for our final Sunita meal. We had poori, bhaji, coffee, and mango juice and had a nice chat with Mukul. Sunita had to keep him focused so that he would have time to finish packing. She reminded him that we would have plenty of time to talk in the car. She gave Craig and I tikas on our foreheads with colored powder paste and tied a yellow security thread around our right wrists to ensure a safe journey. Sukumar brought our bags out to the car. We left the house at 8:38 a.m. We stopped at a sweet shop to buy some sweets for our upcoming hosts in Rajasthan. Indians definitely love their sweets!
Back in the car, we passed rosewood trees which are good for furniture making. There were eucalyptus trees as well, but they require too much water to be sustainable in this area. We also passed papyrus groves and peacocks wandering around the landscape. Along the way we saw kose minar (columns or pillars which marked roads between Mughal cities from the 1500’s; such as the roads between Delhi and Kabul). We passed a group of people selling milk in big silver jugs. Mukul explained that the milk has to be put through a float test to prevent sellers from watering it down. On our way out of the state of Uttar Pradesh towards Rajasthan, we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri, 35 km from Agra. “Fatehpur” means "City of Victory". The location for this capital city was chosen by Akbar because a Sufi priest foretold the births of his three sons there. In its mere 14 years as the capital of the Mughal empire, there were over 40,000 people in residence. We entered Fatehpur Sikri via the Agra Gate. Rajendra parked the car and we took the bus up to the city after taking a quick bathroom break. The city is made of red sandstone, and has a very unique look. The architecture is very geometric.We got to see areas that we hadn’t been able to see the last time we had visited. We admired the Panch Mahal, an architecturally stunning 5 story palace. Each successive story is smaller than the one below, and it is reminiscent of a multi-tiered wedding cake, stacked off-center from its base layer. A chhatri dome topped it off. The courtyard itself was made of stone tiles of varying colors, which made an interesting geometric pattern. Slight slopes in the foundation caused rainwater to flow into holding tanks. The city had an elaborate series of aqueducts and water pumps which had been powered by animals. We entered the square Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), which had a chhatri dome over each corner. The hub of the building was an elaborately carved column which had catwalk spokes radiating out from it. Mukul is a great guide because he always gives multiple interpretations of things – including both commonly held beliefs as well as his own professors’ interpretations, which he frequently believes over the more commonly held stories. He explained the theory that this hub symbolized the meeting of the world's various religions under the reign of Akbar. Akbar would supposedly sit atop the hub, and representatives of other religions (including Hinduism and Christianity as well as the Mughals' own Islam) would sit atop the spokes radiating from the hub. We continued exploring the city. We saw carvings of animals, previously forbidden under strict Muslim rules. But Akbar's progressive views allowed the expression of art which does not conform to traditional Islamic law. However, Akbar's intolerant great-grandson Aurangzeb ordered for the heads to be chiseled off of the animal carvings during his strict Muslim rule. So today, beside the traditional geometric Islamic carvings of the complex, we see headless animal figures. We visited the treasury building which had little "safety deposit boxes" in the stones which were believed to have held the precious gold and silver of the empire. The city seems rather eerily empty. Despite the presence of Indian and foreign tourists, this city which once sustained a population of 40,000 seemed like a deserted ghost town. It was abandoned after a mere 14 years, it is thought because of a tainted water supply. After fully exploring the city, we went to the The Jama Masjid mosque, completed in 1571. We took off our shoes and wore shoe covers on our bare feet. We went over to the impressive main gate of the mosque. This gate, known as the Buland Darwaza, was huge and elaborately decorated with Islamic art and Koranic verses. A staircase of 42 steps leads up to the gate, and Mukul descended a few steps to get a photo of us dwarfed by the massiveness of the gate. We then re-entered the mosque complex and wandered around the corridors surrounding the main courtyard. The remnants of faded paintings were visible on the interior, painted on the muqarnas and the inside of the domes. All kinds of sellers were set up with blankets on the ground selling all kinds of things. Craig and I were both reminded of the line in "Jesus Christ Superstar" when Jesus shrieks to those conducting business in his temple “My temple should be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!” (Long live Ian Gillan!) We crossed the courtyard to the mausoleum of Shaikh Salim Chisti, the Sufi saint who had predicted the birth of Akbar's three sons, and who had made 20 trips to Mecca. It really stood out, being a white marble structure amidst an entire courtyard of sandstone. We needed to cover our heads before entering. Muslims touched the threshold before entering. We walked clockwise around the inner chamber. In the outer perimeter we saw all of the red and yellow wish threads tied around the jali screens, which must be retrieved once a prayer is answered and their wish is granted. A family was standing near us and a boy had a camera. We always seemed to be in the way of his photos, and we kept moving aside until we realized that we were actually the intended subject of his photos. This entire family was looking at us with interest, and we posed with them for a photo. It is clear that it isn’t necessarily common for non-Muslims to visit this tomb. The boy said thank you, and we exited the tomb. Mukul didn’t want to wait for a bus to take us back down the hill to the parking lot, so we started to walk. Partway down, he hired a horse-drawn rickshaw to take us the remainder of the way. Craig and I hopped in the back facing backwards, and Mukul sat in the front with the driver. Mukul called Rajendra on his cell phone and he came to meet us with the car. While embarking on the drive to Rajasthan, we passed a shrine which caught our eye. Mukul informed us that it actually pre-dated Fatehpur Sikri. Everything here had such a long history compared to structures in the United States! We passed into the state of Rajasthan at 12:05 p.m. As the car is registered in Rajasthan, we didn’t need to pay the normal road tax for entering a different state. We passed millet fields and the little structures with straw conical roofs for storing dung. These things reminded us so much of Dogon country in Mali. We passed a bird sanctuary / national park. The highway was in quite nice shape. Westarted to see many kilns for firing bricks (these are no longer allowed in Agra due to the air pollution which harms the Taj Mahal). We stopped at a Midway rest stop (a chain of restaurant/gift shops found along the highway) and had sweet rose flavored lassi and used the restroom. When we got back into the car. Mukul broke out some gajak, a sesame sweet that he had bought at the confectioner’s this morning. He also brought out some salted peanuts. The landscape started to change and we saw some sandstone mountains. We passed a herd of around 25 camels, including babies and black camels, which we had never really seen before. 25 km outside Jaipur, we saw the outer ring of hills which surround the city. Power generated here flows toward Delhi through a series of power lines. The inner ring of hills appeared 5 km from Jaipur. The entrance to Jaipur is majestic – narrow streets with structures on both sides. We passed through streets decorated with silver garland for the upcoming Diwali festival. It stretched onto side streets as well. We arrived at the house of Hemant and Alka Agrawal, the owners of Deshantar Travel with whom Mukul had booked the entire India trip. They provide homestays in their lovely home. We were greeted and brought to the sitting room, where we chatted with Hemant and his friend Deepak who had stopped by for a visit. Deepak is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who had made a BBC/CBS documentary on the Jaipur prosthetic foot in the early 90's. He is currently working on a cognitive neuroscience documentary. We all participated in very interesting conversations about politics, the military, pharmaceutical monopolies, healthcare, etc. Deepak had to leave, and then we were shown to our second floor suite. There was a kitchen and a sitting room/dining area. Our room and Mukul’s opened onto the sitting room. The rooms also had en suite bathrooms. It was a very nice setup for homestays. Craig’s stomach wasn’t feeling wonderful after the ride here, so we rested from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. I wrote in the journal, and we just took it easy for a couple of hours. At 6 o’clock, Mukul announced that he would be taking us out for drinks at the nicest hotel in Jaipur. Rajendra drove us to the Rambagh Palace, run by the Taj Group. Given the terrorist attacks at their Mumbai properties roughly a year ago, Taj has put strict security measures in place. We were stopped and asked to state our business, and they made Rajendra pop open the hood and trunk. They wheeled a mirror under the vehicle to make sure that nothing was hiding there that shouldn’t be. Nonetheless, they were incredibly polite, and once satisfied, wished us a nice visit. It was twilight and the palace was aglow with soft lights. Built in 1835, the Rambagh was used as a royal guesthouse and hunting lodge and was converted into a palace in 1925.It was the home of the Jaipur Royal Family until 1957, at which point it was converted to a hotel. Mukul gave us a tour and we walked into two dining rooms which were currently being set up for the evening’s dinner. Exquisite is really the only word that comes to mind to describe this hotel. There were fresh flowers and candles everywhere. Gleaming crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings, and gold plated flatware shone on the tables. We went into the Polo Bar, a dark intimate bar showcasing the late Maharaja's polo trophies and equipment. Mukul wanted to buy us drinks, and we opted to sit outside to enjoy the ambiance of the palace grounds in the twilight. We sat at a table on the lawn but soon it started to sprinkle rain, so we moved onto couches on the patio under an overhang. Craig and Mukul shared Kingfisher beer, and I had a delicious guava lime daiquiri. There were also savory snacks. The whole place felt very sophisticated and refined. Although we had dressed in our better clothes, we still felt woefully underdressed. At 8 o’clock, we headed back to Hemant’s house. Mukul changed into his more comfy clothes, and Alka served us a lovely dinner of vegetable soup, bottle gourd, eggplant, poori, basmati rice, and dahl. It was delicious. Craig’s stomach still wasn’t feeling 100%, and he was only able to eat a little bit. He felt awful not being able to fully enjoy this nice home-cooked meal, but everyone understood. Craig, Mukul, and Hemant shared a beer over dinner, and we chatted with Hemant. He is very active in his local Lion’s Club, and he told us about the cataract and polio surgeries that they provide free of charge, and the blood drives which they have. After dinner, we headed back to our room and went to bed at 9:30. View Larger Map |
         
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