366
Fatehpur Sikri
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To Old City Ruins (50m)
To Sikri (3km)
Hiran Minar
Diwan-i-Khas
200 m 0.1 miles
To Agra Gate Chahar Suq (400m) (Tansen Baradari)
Hammam
Mint Astrologer's Kiosk DiwanDiwan-i-Am Ticket Office & Hathi Caravanserai Palace Buildings Entrance Pachisi i-Am Pol Palace of the Panch Courtyard To Agra Gate Mahal Christian Wife Rumi Sultana (400m) Ornamental Birbal Jodh Bai's Pool Bhavan Palace of Kitchen Jodh Bai Lower Daulat Stonecutters' Haramsara Khana Mosque Baoli
Ladies Treasury Garden
UT TAR PR ADESH
Tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti
Jodh Bai Ticket Office & Palace Buildings Entrance
Tomb of Islam Khan
ra
Rd
Ag
Jama Masjid Shahi Darwaza Well Steps
Buland Darwaza
Hotel Ajay Palace
Goverdhan Tourist Complex
Train Station
Bus Stand Clock Bazaar Tower
trance, at the top of a flight of stone steps, is through the spectacular 54m-high Buland Darwaza (Victory Gate), built to commemorate Akbar’s military victory in Gujarat. Inside the courtyard of the mosque is the stunning white-marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti, which was completed in 1581 and is entered through a door made of ebony. Inside it are brightly coloured flower murals while the canopy is decorated with mother-of-pearl shell. Just as Akbar came to the saint four centuries ago hoping for a son, childless women visit his tomb today and tie a thread to the jali, which are among the finest in India. To the right of the tomb lie the gravestones of family members of Shaikh Salim Chishti and nearby is the entrance to an underground tunnel (barred by a locked gate) that reputedly goes all the way to Agra Fort! Behind the entrance to the tunnel, on the far wall, are three holes, part of the ancient ventilation system. You can still feel the rush of cool air forcing its way through them. Just east of Shaikh Salim Chisti’s tomb is the red-sandstone tomb of Islam Khan, the final resting place of Shaikh Salim Chisti’s grandson and one-time governor of Bengal. On the east wall of the courtyard is a smaller entrance to the mosque – the Shahi Darwaza (King’s Gate), which leads to the palace complex.
Palaces & Pavilions PALACES (Indian/foreigner ₹20/260, video ₹25; hdawndusk) The first of the palace buildings you enter from the south is the largest, the Palace of Jodh Bai, and the one-time home of
Akbar’s Hindu wife, said to be his favourite. Set around an enormous courtyard, it blends traditional Indian columns, Islamic cupolas and turquoise-blue Persian roof tiles. Just outside, to the left of Jodh Bai’s former kitchen, is the Palace of the Christian Wife. This was used by Akbar’s Goan wife Mariam, who gave birth to Jehangir here in 1569. Like many of the buildings in the palace complex, it contains elements of different religions, as befitted Akbar’s tolerant religious beliefs. The domed ceiling is Islamic in style, while remnants of a wall painting of the Hindu god Shiva can also be found. Continuing anticlockwise will bring you to the Ornamental Pool. Here, singers and musicians would perform on the platform above the water while Akbar watched from the pavilion in his private quarters, known as Daulat Khana (Abode of Fortune). Behind the pavilion is the Khwabgah (Dream House), a sleeping area with a huge stone bunk bed. Nowadays the only sleeping done here is by bats, hanging from the ceiling. The small room in the far corner is full of them!