Hello everyone,
I hope you all are fine and doing well.
Today I am going to share some information about one of the best Indian Historic Site- FATEHPUR SIKRI.
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It all started a way back.
We all know that Jahangir also known as Prince Salim was son of the greatest emperor Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar. But do we know that Jahangir was born with the blessings of the Sufi saint, Sheikh Salim Chishti? He uses to live in the village of Sikri, and with respect, Akbar named his son on his name and also decided to build a City at Sikri.
So, the work for the city started in 1571, it took around 7 years to complete the city and was completed in 1578. He named it Fatehpur Sikri.
So, let's take a look at the Famous places in the city.
Buland Darwaza
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This is Buland Darwaza which was made by Akbar in celebration, when he conquered Gujarat. As we all can look from the picture that there is a huge arch at the center and on top, there are 3 Large sizes of chhatris and in front of them we see 13 small sizes of chhatris.
We can see Verses from the Holy Quran inscribed on the gateway. One of them is:
" The world is but a bridge, pass over it but build no houses on it. He who hopes for an hour, hopes for Eternity, for the world is but an hour. Spend it in Prayer, for the rest is unseen."
Hiran Minar
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This is one of most amazing tower I cam across till now because this tower was made by Akbar in memory of his favourite Elephant, and it is studded with a thousand of Elephant tusks made of stone.
Anup Talao
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Here we look at Anup Talao which is a water tank with 4 stone bridges emitting from its raised platform at the centre. Also made by Akbar, and the most interesting thing about this place is that it is believed that Mian Tansen used to sit here and practice his music.
Panch Mahal
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Just look at this beauty, it's 5- story stepped pavilion which is built entirely on columns takes my mind and eyes towards its attractive infrastructure.
The ground floor consists of 84 pillars which is a number used intentionally i.e. the number of pillars represents as follow:
(7 planets that were known at that time) X ( 12 zodiac sign) = 84
The first floor has 56 pillars and the second and third floors have 20 and 12 pillars respectively.
The topmost story has 4 pillars which are supporting the Chhatri.
so, with a total of 176 pillars, which are elegantly carved, and no two pillars here are alike. It was one of the most favorite places for the royal ladies.
Tomb Of Sheikh Salim Chishti
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Here we see the tomb of Sheikh Salim, it consists of an inner domed chamber, surrounded by a verandah on all sides. The jail screens cover the wide openings in the verandah. Earlier, this tomb was in red sandstone with very little marble work. But afterward, this tomb was completely covered by marble by Jahangir.
Jami Masjid
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Looking at this beautiful work of infrastructure. My eyes, again and again, want to look at this beauty of work in reality. This mosque has so majestic central ark with small chhatris on the top of it.
And the best thing is that its interior is richly ornamented, and there are some earlier records which state that occasionally Akbar himself use to sweep the floor of the mosque.
Diwan-i-Khas
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This is Diwan-i-Khas, I used two photos of it just to show you its outside and inside infrastructure which attracts my eyes. It is a small, square structure which consists of a high ceiling hall, and crowned with 4 chhatris on its corners. The hall has a carved pillar at the center of the floor as you can see from the second picture, and has four passages radiating from its raised circular seat. It is told that Akbar perhaps sat here and listen to religious conversations.
Jodha Bai's Palace
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This is the last in my list named as Jodha Bai's Palace which has a double story structure with a central archway and has balconies on either side. When we go inside we see a big courtyard and many rooms. As we all can clearly see that the infrastructure of this Palace has both Gujarati and Rajasthani style.
And with all this, I finally end up on the list of most popular places of Fatehpur Sikri
I hope you all enjoyed it and learned something new about Indian History.
Thank you for reading it all with so interest..