Agra Diary

Situated 30kms away from the present day city of Agra-
Fatehpur Sikri, was once a small village,
but it holds a captivating tale behind its being
the capital of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Legend says, Akbar, who had no son,
decided to seek the blessings
of Shaikh Salim Chisti who used to reside in the village, Sikri.
----------------------------------------------------
The saint prophesied that Akbar would have three sons and
soon the saint’s foretelling came true and Akbar was blessed
with his first son Salim, whom he named after the saint.
Akbar was so glad that he decided to build his new capital near Sikri
He renamed it Fatehabad (and ultimately Fatehpur)
meaning ‘city of victory’.
-------------------------------------------------------
Water was a scarce item at Sikri
and the short splendor of this city came to an end,
when Akbar had to move to Lahore.
The dumped city then gradually witnessed the signs of
administrative neglect and never recuperated its gone grandeur.
---------------------------------------------------

The Khas Mahal palace, here stands apart
from other Mughal architectures
Its Indian style of finishing and the pleasure
of Persian dignity can be felt.
The handsomely cut bell shaped pedestals and
elephant head columns of the complex
are the features that give it a colossal dignity and royalty.
------------------------------------------

Large number of architectural treasures
that ornate the city, with effortlessly-
varied colours of red and pink
are the best treasures of the Mughal creativity.
--------------------------------------------

Designed with costly stones and marble, Buland Darwaza,
the semi-octagonal shaped massive triumphal arch
,is on the southern wall of the courtyard.
It celebrates Akbar’s conquest of Gujarat.
This 176 feet towering is the most brilliant of its kind
in the complete series of Mughal design in India.
Modest decoration with calligraphy contains a famous line:
’The world is but a bridge: Pass over but build no houses on it’
The Buland Darwaza commands the landscape for miles.
-------------------------------------------

Akbar was uneducated, how ever he took a keen interest
in literature, architecture, and the arts.
He has the reputation of being a very open-minded ruler,
and the buildings and environ at Fatehpur Sikri
blended both Islamic and Hindu styles.
The whole atmosphere at Sikri reflects the faith founded by Akbar,
Din-e-ilahi, very short-lived religion marred with controversy
---------------------------------------------------

As you take a walk inside the barren palaces and halls,
the great majesty and excellence of the Mughals
slowly unfold in front of you.
Just as the light that creeps into the
interior of this royal window
peeping secretly into the mysteries
of the historic yesterdays
------------------------------------------

Saint Chisti’s tomb is built on a marble platform
higher from ground level and the cenotaph
inside the mausoleum is enclosed by white marble screens
adorned with exquisite lattice work.
In the middle of The Emperor’s Courtyard this tomb is crowded
by Childless women, particularly those without a male kid.
----------------------------------------------

The walls of the verandah are filled with
holy inscriptions from the Koran.
There is also a ritual of knotting a thread
at the windows of this ‘dargah’ to fulfill the wishes.
---------------------------------------------

Queens and princess on the top terraces enjoyed the cool breeze
and watched splendid view of Sikri fortifications and
the town huddled at the foot of the ridge.
‘Panch Mahal’ the Palace of 5 storeys,
also known as ‘Badgir’, the wind tower,
is an extraordinary structure, entirely columnar;
consisting of four storeys of decreasing size.
The pillars support the whole structure.
--------------------------------------------------

Fatehpur Sikri is a monumental mistake,
it leaves you in a state of wonder
An amazing amount of effort must have gone
into carving these splendid palaces,
every inch carved in painstaking detail,
all that effort and wealth that was spent
was inhabited only for less than 20 years,
as Akbar left to Lahore.
--------------------------------------------

Back to the city of Agra:
An elegant poetry of coloured stone decorate
set into convoluted prototype of flowers and Arabic prayer
with the faultless rhythmic symmetry on each tower,
composed in a pitch of splendor, poise and peace.
This marble magnum opus, India’s most photographed view,
even when the eyes are closed, an astonishing cherish able moment.
-------------------------------------------------

“My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame
and place them before the altar of thy temple.
No, I will never shut the doors of my senses.
The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.
Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy,
and all my desires ripen into fruits of love”
Tagore : Gitanjali
–Taj, the jewel and pride of India–
-------------------------------------------

Urban India’s water bodies were always clogged with dirt.
We cleaned our house holds but not our minds
and persistently competed to add our share of rubbish
even to the historic streams and later lament on them.
-----------------------------------------------

Water conservation and environmental agencies are still mocked
by the industrial houses on the northern banks of Yamuna,
who flooded the sacred river with tons of
toxic waste over a period of time,
to leave this great river in shackles, a view from the back side of Taj
------------------------------------------------

A startling sight, we Indians were not allowed to put on footwear
any where inside the Taj complex,
but surprisingly these foreign nationals
were spotted with a unique display on their feet.
All it was a sack kind of stuff tied at the bottom
to protect from the hard ground!
----------------------------------------------

Amritsar Dairy

The seeds of Amritsar were laid in 1577
when the fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das took notice of a water pool
in the area that had healing powers.
He instructed his son and descendant Guru Arjan Dev
to erect a temple at the spot,
which would be the hub of the Sikh religion.
Guru Arjan Dev laid the foundations of the city of Ramdaspur in 1588
and the temple complex was completed in 1601.
The Mughal emperor Akbar is said to have donated
the land around the temple after paying off the local Jat farmers.
Arjan Dev, who had compiled the Adi Granth
or holy text of the Sikhs,
placed it in the temple grounds,
which came to be known as the Harmandir (Temple of God).
–The Golden Temple complex, Amritsar–
----------------------------------------------------------
Amritsar has witnessed a bloody struggle for survival,
over the centuries.
This city was invariably faced with menaces
from both Muslim and Hindu rulers.
Guru Hargobind is said to have equipped the city and
he accepted only offerings of weapons from disciples.
They were used for defence of the temple town.
When Salim, the younger son of Akbar took over,
Arjan Dev was posed to adapt Islam as sacrament for his goodwill.
The Guru declined, and was tortured and killed by Salim,
who had then become the ruler - Emperor Jahangir.
----------------------------------------------------------

The turban is Guru’s gift to Sikhs. It is how they crown themselves
as the Singhs and Kaurs who sit on the throne
of commitment to their own higher consciousness.
For men and women alike, this projective identity conveys
royalty, grace, and uniqueness.
It is a signal to others that they live in the image of Infinity
and are dedicated to serving all.
The turban doesn’t represent anything except complete commitment.
When they choose to stand out by tying their turban,
they stand fearlessly as one single person
standing out from six billion people.
It is a most outstanding act.
--------------------------------------------------

A Sikh (the word means ‘disciple’) is a person who follows
the teachings of the ten Sikh Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib
(the eternal Guru in the form of Holy Scriptures).
The Sikh Gurus were prophets whom Sikhs believe were sent by God
to deliver his message and to lead people on the true path to God.
Sikhs treat the Gurus with the same respect
as they would treat the one almighty God.
The Golden Temple sits on a rectangular platform,
surrounded by a pool of water called the Amrit Sarovar
from which the City is named.

------------------------------------------------------

The turban of a Sikh is his or her primary identifying feature.
It is a statement of belonging to the Guru,
and it is a statement of the inner commitment
of the one who wears it.
The uncut hair and the turban are
a declaration to live in accordance with,
and if necessary die in support of, the Teachings of the Sikh Gurus
and the Siri Guru Granth Sahib.
Regardless of the circumstances or
the type of employment or activity,
a Sikh keeps his or her form and identity as a Sikh.
Clothes are modest, and exemplary of the identity
and character of a soldier-saint.
-------------------------------------------------

Every Sikh baptized as Khalsa vows to wear the Five “K’s”:
‘Kesh’, ‘Kangha’, ‘Katchera’, ‘Kara’ and ‘Kirpan’.
Kesh is the uncut hair and beard, as given by God,
to sustain him or her in higher consciousness;
and the turban is the crown of spirituality.
Kangha is a A wooden comb to properly groom the hair
as a symbol of cleanliness.
--------------------------------------------------

Katchera is a specially made cotton wear
as a reminder of the commitment to purity.
Kara is a steel circle, worn on the wrist, signifying bondage
to Truth and freedom from every other entanglement.
Kirpan is the sword, with which the Khalsa is committed
to righteously defend the fine line of the Truth.
---------------------------------------------------

The passage of terror – the only entrance to the Jallianwala Bagh,
the seat of one of the nastiest carnages
perpetrated by the British Raj.
People gathered to protest against the
‘Rowlatt Act’ were tried suppress
by the Governor of the Punjab Province - O’Dwyer.
He imposed a ban on public assemblies and
The ferocious Panjabis known for their valour,
in defiance of this order met in a rectangular piece of land,
called Jallianwala Bagh to mark the anniversary
of the birth of the ‘Khalsa panth’
General Dyer,
who was charged to enforce law and order in the region,
marched up to the ground with his troops
and jammed this narrow entrance and opened fire on the gathering
without any warning on thousands of
innocent men, women and children.
-------------------------------------------------

Here it goes…..
The writings on the wall, the writings of the past,
the writings of the human rage over his fellow beings.
Here history try not to suffocate, the generations to come
with their inward act of submissive foolishness.
This wall speaks a lot…
-------------------------------------------

“Replica of life
created by life and form will go,
Leaving behind
an illusion of light and shade”
–Tagore–
(the Amar Jyothi at Jallianwala Bagh)
---------------------------------------

Even today, the walls of the Jallianwala Bagh bear
the bullet holes where people were mercilessly butchered.
Some people even tried to escape the firing
by jumping into a well in the complex, but drowned and died.
The British tried to suppress this incident,
but it created a furore in the entire nation.
As a result, Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for Civil disobedience,
which escalated to a mass movement
and forced the British out of India.
------------------------------------------

Around the 14th or 15th Century,
Punjabi wheat farmers danced and sang
songs about village life to help pass the time
while working in the fields.
With time, ’Bhangra’ became part of
harvest celebrations at Baisakhi festivals,
as the sight of their crops growing invigorated the farmers.
From there the dance quickly moved through
all divisions of class and education,
eventually becoming a part of weddings,
and other important occasions.
–A shop for music instruments,
a view from a narrow bylane of Amritsar town-
------------------------------------------------

In 1984 there was a bloody combat,
between the Indian administration
and Sikh combative groups in Amritsar.
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a militant Sikh leader
gave a call for separate nationhood,
which spread like wildfire throughout the state.
In June 1984, hounded by the army and police,
a heavily armed Bhindranwale
and his followers holed up in the Golden Temple complex.
An iron willed Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India
asked the army to roll tanks into the complex
and open fire on the militants.
A state of panic was followed and many were mowed down by bullets.
It is believed that the army, in a state of high adrenalin confusion
fired on the Akal Takht, the seat of Sikh religious authority.
Bhindranwale was killed,
and so were thousands of his men and soldiers.
Though the temple was rebuilt back to its original glory,
the scars in the minds of the wounded Sikh people remained.
As a result of this operation, the Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi,
who had ordered the army action,
was assassinated by her own bodyguards.
-------------------------------------------