Agra Fort

It's just massive.  No matter how many people tell you this, you still cannot be prepared.  Huge.  And, the Indian military uses a large portion of it, which the public doesn't get to go to.

 

Some history:  Akbar, a Mughal ruler, embarked upon this architectural venture a little more than a decade after coming to rule.  His style and tactical construction became the norm.  The fort is made of red sandstone.  Construction began in 1565 with thousands of workers laboring at a hectic pace for eight years.  It has a circumference of about a mile and a half and 21 meter high double walls.  The fort complex comprises of palaces, courts, mosques, and gardens.  When Shah Jahan (his wife is who the Taj Mahal is built to memorialize) came to power, he did away with many of the structures Akbar (his grandfather) built and replaced them with a series of pavilions for public and private use.  Shah Jahan was held captive here for the last seven years of his life by his son Aurangzeb, who had no interest in the building, its architecture, or its beauty.

 

The main entrance, the Amar Singh Gate, in the southern end, with drawbridge across a moat:

 With another entrance afterwards:

 And then another, with the towers:

Upon entering this triple entrance gateway--to the right we saw a worker using simple tools to fix a wall, straight ahead we saw an inclined walk (leading to another entrance) and to the left were the stables:

After walking up the incline, and going through a fourth "entrance" we came out here at the Jahangir Mahal (a palace built by Akbar in Rajput and Mughal architecture for his Hindu wife Jodha Bai):

I believe we went through another entrance/arch/gateway:

And on the other side came to this courtyard, looking left, straight, and right:

The structure that was on the right is called the Diwan-i-Am.  This is where the emperor met his public audience.  It has 40 carved pillars:

The last picture of Diwan-i-Am was the right side (not the front) and there was a doorway off to the right that led here:

This is the Khaas Mahal or "special palace."  It has three pavilions, one in the center and one on each side:

At night, they would hang torches inside the holes here:

To get there, you had to walk through what used to be beautiful gardens and ponds:

The gardens are surrounded by the royal apartments:

They would pump water into here using those poles that received their water through forces of gravity after leaving containers sitting on the roof.  Also, take note of the little arched door, sitting next to a rectangular door, on the side of the building (not the wall):

We got a special, private tour (it's good to have a good guide, who knows everybody) inside that little door.  Behind it was the private women's bathing area.  The walls were made of marble and inlaid with stones that sparkled, especially in the dark with candles:

Before exiting the women's bathing area, we saw this.  This is where they gave newborn babies their first baths:

And when we exited that area, we were outside, up against the fort wall that faces the Taj:

The amount of marble, precious stones, sizes, amounts, and details were just incredible:

This is the pavilion on the right, it had great views of the backside of the Taj Mahal:

More detail:

An octagonal tower, there was quite a breeze that passed through.  We learned that the  women would enjoy time here during the day to cool off:

I had a great view of people on the other side of the river doing their wash:

This "window" above the door is a natural vent:

This room was shaped in such a way that you could hear what one was saying in another corner:

This was a kitchen:

This is the Diwan-i-Khas or Hall of private audience.  It is Persian style architecture:

And winding our way back to the front (we liked the big large bowl/bath made of one piece of stone):