The whirligig around US President Donald Trump’s high-octane visit to Agra was tangible as I landed in the city last week. Botoxed and beautified, the ancient metropolis, founded by Sikander Lodhi in the 16th century as ‘Akbarabad’, glowed like a bride. Locals joked that while the presidential jaunt to the marvel in marble may or may not bolster India-US ties, it had certainly uplifted the city’s creaky civic infrastructure.
The focus of my own visit to Agra though was not to gawk at the Taj—been there, done that. But to attend a conclave of Indian travel writers and bloggers. A wonderfully curated itinerary by the Tourism Guild of Agra, INTACH and UP Tourism was in place for us to experience ‘Agra, Beyond the Taj’. We explored the syncretic culture of a truly fascinating and multilayered city where history whispers from every gali/mohalla. We visited a trove of lesser known but nevertheless stunning Mughal-era monuments that pepper Agra like confetti. We went for immersive walks and thrilling tours through the city, eyewitness to the rise and fall of the Mughal empire, British despotism and local upheavals.
I’d earlier known Mughal Gardens to be exclusive to the leafy landscapes of New Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhawan. How wrong I was. Agra, I was informed, once hosted as many as 45 of these splendiferous spaces, including the country’s oldest Mughal Garden (Ram Bagh, built by Babur). Some of these estates still survive, albeit in varying stages of conservation.
Painstakingly created over a century, the gardens were designed to provide succour to the kings from the city’s catatonic heat—both political and atmospheric. Some are even sites of veneration to honour the dead with typical features like pools, fountains, canals set amid a rectilinear layout. Impressive to note, especially in these ecologically fraught times, is that during their construction, utmost -attention was paid to water conservation.
My tour took me to Ram Bagh, Chini ka Rauza and Mehtab Bagh (moonlit garden), which offers the best view of the Taj. Legend has it that it was built by Shah Jahan right behind his beloved monument so that no construction could take place here to obstruct its view.
‘Baby Taj’ or ‘Bachha Taj’, located on the Yamuna’s eastern bank, is regarded as one of Agra’s most unique architectural wonders. The inspiration behind the Taj Mahal, it was dedicated by Nur Jahan to her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg aka Itimad-ud-Daulah, during his tenure as Jehangir’s prime minister. It was built between 1622-1628, five years before Taj’s construction began. The tomb was also the first Mughal structure crafted completely from marble. Sadly, Baby Taj hardly gets any footfalls compared to Big Daddy, located a stone’s throw away.
Did you know that Agra hosts the world’s largest sloth bear conservatory? For five centuries, sloth bear (reech in Hindi) have been brutally exploited by a nomadic tribe known as Kalandar, which trained these furry beasts to dance in royal courts. Over centuries, the ‘dancing’ bear trade became entrenched as a form of entertainment for villagers and tourists. These rescued bears are now being housed here.
The bear rescue-rehabilitation park, sited in the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary in Keetam, also hosts India’s first wildlife conservation education walkway. It sensitises people about endangered sloth bears and other native Indian wildlife under threat from rampant habitat destruction and deforestation, leading to increased human-animal conflict.
If it wasn’t for the Taj, petha may well have been Agra’s leitmotif.? Throw a stone and you’ll likely hit a kiosk (or three) selling this ambrosial, translucent candy crafted from winter melons (or ash gourd). Legend has it that petha was invented when the Taj was being constructed. The 21,000 workers who toiled to build it complained to Shah Jahan that they weren’t happy with the plebian dal-roti they were served every day. Worried that disgruntled workers may compromise the quality of construction, Shah Jahan promptly ordered his battalion of 500 cooks to master the art of making excellent petha and serve it to the labourers daily.
With a surge in demand and innovation, more varieties than the original two or three are now available. I identified kesar petha, angoori petha, cherry petha, coconut petha, dodha burfi petha, gulab laddu petha, even sandwich petha! Diabetics can enjoy a -sugar-free version. There’s even an ‘aphrodisiac petha’, whose recipe is fiercely guarded by a few halwais in the know.