The Deserted City of Fatepur Sikri

I’d been told about this place by a few travelers along the way, and had to check it out.  It was a day trip from Agra and for anyone heading out that way it’s well and truly worth it.

Fatepur Sikri is a deserted city – originally built by royalty several hundred years ago, it was abandoned soon after the king died once everyone realized it was built too far from a reliable water source (duh!).  One thing I recall about the king is that he firmly believed in religious tolerance and even married three wives of each religion (Hindu, Muslim, Christian) to maintain peace in his kingdom.  I kinda liked that idea.

   
The heads of these elephants statues at the city gates were destroyed by the invading Muslims.

The king’s throne room.

    
The raised throne.                                  Part of the palace structure.

We also visited the nearby mosque with an incredibly beautiful exterior made out of the same red stone as the palace next door.

I recall that the stairs were so blisteringly hot (it was around 45 degrees Celcius most days) that I could only sit down for seconds to take this shot!