Today we went to an old palace/capital of Akbar the Great’s called "Fatepur Sikhi".
Akbar was the 3rd Mughal Emperor with the pressure (as all male rulers of the time) to have a son. Despite the fact that he had 6 wives (concurrently! Not consecutively, as did Henry VIII…) he was unable to produce a LEGITIMATE male heir to carry on the Mughal throne… L (I specify “legit” b.c. in addition to his 6 LEGAL WIVES, he had a buncha concubines… How he found the time for all that AND running a country is beyond me!) So… he was very sad & distraught b.c. he didn’t want the Mughal throne to end with him...
He went to this Guru-priest guy & the guy was like “Don’t worry! You’ll have a son within a year!” Well, what-du-ya-know but his Hindu Rajput princess of a wife bore him one a year later! Naturally he was ECSTATIC! Therefore, in honor of this guru-guy who predicted it, aka made it happen in Akbar’s eyes, Akbar built an entire city and moved his capital to near where the guy was!!
This city took 7 years to build, a buncha money I’m sure, and when it was all said n done- Akbar moved to this city making it his capital for 15 years!
Within this city was a palace, which is where we spent most of our time...
In the palace was first a General Audience hall, or courtyard where the Emperor received the public. This is also where he handed down and performed punishments such as “trampling via elephant”!!! (Imagine being squashed and killed by an elephant! OUCH!)
After the courtyard, you entered the private portion of the palace.
The first section was the “Man’s section”.. aka no woman ever went there.
There was the building where Akbar held important meetings with important guys.
To show just how important he was, he stood above them on this central pillar, while all the other guys stood on the floor below looking up at him. Pretty arrogant.
There was a treasury where he kept/”hid” all the money.
There was his bedroom with his “KING” size bed!!
In the center of all the “man buildings” was a place where a magician would perform that was in the center of water. Everyone, including the woman (that were hiding behind windows) would watch him in the evenings.
Akbar even had a water source where the rivers from nearby would be kept in a large storage system to provide water to the palace. Akbar himself, however, was fairly picky and only drank water from the Ganges river itself. That’s why he got his own special water source in the shape of a lotus leaf.
In the woman’s section was a house built just for his mom. What a nice son.
The Hindu Rajput princess who bore him that very important male heir got a palace all to herself!!!! (Poor other wives… L ) In her HUGE palace in the woman’s section- she had a special Winter Palace for the winter months,
Summer Palace for the summer months,
and a Hindu Temple in the middle of the two.
Like all Mughal architecture, it was super focused on symmetry- therefore the four sides surrounding the courtyard were identical. (which makes me think: why do you need an identical palace for summer that you have in winter?! Why not just one for both!? Then again, Akbar was a nice guy- at least to those who were important to him)
There was a section for all his concubines—pretty cramped if you ask me… Of course this was directly linked to his bedroom. (Also, who KNOWS where the other 5 WIVES stayed?!?)
After having lived here for 15 years, invaders from the outside threatened the Mughal reign and Akbar had to shift his capital in order to protect & keep India. After he left, no one came back. L Fatepuh Sikhi was abandoned forever.
As WE abandoned it, on we said goodbye to our awesome guide- Hasnain (Has-Nine) & went to Jaipur- a 5 hour drive! L Upon arrival we checked out our awesome hotel:
And went to a FANCY dinner at a 5-star hotel…
Which was way better than our "American church" (as one Indian guide referred to it..)
All-in-all: Productive day!
OH! With the exception to: I go to buy some jewelry- not expensive, b.c. you know me (esp if you’re reading my blog..) anyways… my debit card is declined.. I’m like “WTH!! I specifically told my bank that ‘anywhere in ASIA is ok’ "
After FINALLY getting in touch with them (via Mom, thanks, btw!) she’s informed that:
Basically…
my American bank is pretty un-intelligent b.c…..
wait for it….
They didn’t realize India was in Asia!!!!!!!!! (OMG!!)
(really makes me wanna keep banking with them… ;) )
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