Fatehpur Sikri - A Photographers Delight
What's to shoot? Fathepur Sikri is definitely worth an overnight stay.
Recommend the Goverdhan Guest House, just a stone's throw from the monument complex.
While a few hours will be sufficient to capture the desrted but well maintained citadel, I preferred spending one full evening and the next day morning at the Salin Chishti Dargah.
On Thursdays and Fridays, hordes of local villagers start arriving from 10 am, by trains and buses, to the Dargah complex.
By 11 am, the courtyard is brimming with people from all walks - offering great portrait opportunities.
Hawkers selling trinkets, tribute cloth merge into the sand stone so beautifully.
Stick around further and by evening, the courtyard turns into a playground for the local children.
The older folks from the village tend to gather there for their evening smoke and village gossip.
Do not miss the evening sunset.
The constantly changing light situations, as the sun sinks lower in the sky until it finally dips beneath the horizon, make for unique and interesting pictures from different angles in the courtyard.
The falling sunlight offers great contrast with the surroundings.
I was fortunate to have a rain shower on the day I was there.
The sun light would peep dramatically from the surrounding clouds, an expereince worth capturing forever, My favorite images: a) Village Women at Anoop Talao, Sikri b) An evening smoke,Dargah,Sikri c) Piercing eyes,Sikri d) Newly wed bride at Dargah History of Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri, the "City of Victory", sits 35 kilometers from Agra on a low hill of the Vindhya mountain range.
Before the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), the site of the future city had already earned an auspicious reputation.
Babar, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty and Akbar's grandfather, had won a battle here over Rana Sanga of Mewar.
In gratitude he named the area Shukri, which means "thanks".
In Akbar's time the Fatehpur Sikri site was occupied by a small village of stonecutters and was the home of Shaikh Salim Chishti, a Muslim astrologer and Sufi Saint - from the Chishti Order, who lived as a recluse in the small town.
Akbar's wife Mariam-uz-Zamani lost her twins during child birth.
Shaikh Salim Chishti predicted Akbar would have another son in 1959.
Akbar named him Salim in honor of the saint .
Salim was to later rule rule the empire as Emperor Jahangir.
The following year, Akbar, then 28 years old, decided to honor Sheikh Salim Chishti by building his royal city in Sikri.
The decision to build a new capital at Sikri was determined by sentiment and it's importance as a strategic location in Rajasthan to put Akbar and his armies closer to the Gujarat region.
Gujarat was desirable because its coastal cities were ideally suited to take advantage of the lucrative trade to Arab lands.
Construction of the new capital began in 1571 and continued for about fifteen years.
During much of this time Akbar made the area his home,but strangely, in 1586, Akbar abandoned his new capital forever in favor of Lahore.
The reasons are not entirely clear, but the most plausible explanation is Akbar needed to move his base of operations to wage the war against Kabul, which he occupied in 1585, and Kandahar, which fell in 1595.
After Akbar's departure the city was used only sparingly in the coming centuries.
In the early 17th century it became the home of several queen mothers.
In 1619, Emperor Jahangir camped here for three months while a plague raged in nearby Agra.
Ninety years later, the city was refurbished to host the coronation of Muhammad Shah (1709-48).
After that, the city was largely abandoned until Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India for the British from 1898 to 1905, sponspored an archaeological survey and restoration efforts.
Unlike the geometric layouts of other Mughal architecture, Fatehpur Sikri buildings appear more informal.
Fatehpur appears as a series of open spaces and inter spaced specific structures that reflect the spirit of a city rather than a palace.
To view the original of this article go to: http://dagia.
in/index.
php?option=com_myblog&show=Fatehpur-Sikri-Reminder-of-an-erag-gone-by-13.
html&Itemid=9
Recommend the Goverdhan Guest House, just a stone's throw from the monument complex.
While a few hours will be sufficient to capture the desrted but well maintained citadel, I preferred spending one full evening and the next day morning at the Salin Chishti Dargah.
On Thursdays and Fridays, hordes of local villagers start arriving from 10 am, by trains and buses, to the Dargah complex.
By 11 am, the courtyard is brimming with people from all walks - offering great portrait opportunities.
Hawkers selling trinkets, tribute cloth merge into the sand stone so beautifully.
Stick around further and by evening, the courtyard turns into a playground for the local children.
The older folks from the village tend to gather there for their evening smoke and village gossip.
Do not miss the evening sunset.
The constantly changing light situations, as the sun sinks lower in the sky until it finally dips beneath the horizon, make for unique and interesting pictures from different angles in the courtyard.
The falling sunlight offers great contrast with the surroundings.
I was fortunate to have a rain shower on the day I was there.
The sun light would peep dramatically from the surrounding clouds, an expereince worth capturing forever, My favorite images: a) Village Women at Anoop Talao, Sikri b) An evening smoke,Dargah,Sikri c) Piercing eyes,Sikri d) Newly wed bride at Dargah History of Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri, the "City of Victory", sits 35 kilometers from Agra on a low hill of the Vindhya mountain range.
Before the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), the site of the future city had already earned an auspicious reputation.
Babar, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty and Akbar's grandfather, had won a battle here over Rana Sanga of Mewar.
In gratitude he named the area Shukri, which means "thanks".
In Akbar's time the Fatehpur Sikri site was occupied by a small village of stonecutters and was the home of Shaikh Salim Chishti, a Muslim astrologer and Sufi Saint - from the Chishti Order, who lived as a recluse in the small town.
Akbar's wife Mariam-uz-Zamani lost her twins during child birth.
Shaikh Salim Chishti predicted Akbar would have another son in 1959.
Akbar named him Salim in honor of the saint .
Salim was to later rule rule the empire as Emperor Jahangir.
The following year, Akbar, then 28 years old, decided to honor Sheikh Salim Chishti by building his royal city in Sikri.
The decision to build a new capital at Sikri was determined by sentiment and it's importance as a strategic location in Rajasthan to put Akbar and his armies closer to the Gujarat region.
Gujarat was desirable because its coastal cities were ideally suited to take advantage of the lucrative trade to Arab lands.
Construction of the new capital began in 1571 and continued for about fifteen years.
During much of this time Akbar made the area his home,but strangely, in 1586, Akbar abandoned his new capital forever in favor of Lahore.
The reasons are not entirely clear, but the most plausible explanation is Akbar needed to move his base of operations to wage the war against Kabul, which he occupied in 1585, and Kandahar, which fell in 1595.
After Akbar's departure the city was used only sparingly in the coming centuries.
In the early 17th century it became the home of several queen mothers.
In 1619, Emperor Jahangir camped here for three months while a plague raged in nearby Agra.
Ninety years later, the city was refurbished to host the coronation of Muhammad Shah (1709-48).
After that, the city was largely abandoned until Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India for the British from 1898 to 1905, sponspored an archaeological survey and restoration efforts.
Unlike the geometric layouts of other Mughal architecture, Fatehpur Sikri buildings appear more informal.
Fatehpur appears as a series of open spaces and inter spaced specific structures that reflect the spirit of a city rather than a palace.
To view the original of this article go to: http://dagia.
in/index.
php?option=com_myblog&show=Fatehpur-Sikri-Reminder-of-an-erag-gone-by-13.
html&Itemid=9
Source...