Fatehpur Sikri

Today we ventured out from Agra, first to Fatehpur Sikri and then to an elephant sanctuary run by Wildlife SOS. In Fatehpur, an emperor built a large palace. It took them 12 years to build it, and they lived there for only 13.

It’s a beautiful place. It starts with a courtyard and public assembly area.

There’s a large Parcheesi board in one courtyard, big X’s in a square. We’re not sure if they used people as pieces or had large pieces that someone moved for them. Either way, I’m sure the competition level paper compared to that of my family’s. 😁

The emperor that built Fatehpur Sikri had two wives, a Christian one and a Hindi one. If I understood correctly, only the Hindi wife gave him a son. That warranted her the much nicer palace. The Christian wife had one buildings which was small in comparison. The Hindi wife had multiple buildings and courtyard.

Every palace/fort we’ve visited have these water structures in courtyards. We’ve seen them called “tanks.” I think they are to hold rainwater during monsoon, so the entire place isn’t flooded out. This is one of the questions we asked our guide but I don’t think he understood.

She was just too adorable not to include here. =)

That’s our guide with Ben. He’s been a guide here for 47 years! He was entertaining and very informative. Though he had a hard time if we asked him unusual questions, language barrier.

There was amazing detail in the buildings, carved into the sandstone. This one had symbols of various religions. We also saw the swasitka, I have no idea for what it was symbol in this emperor’s era.