Agra Fort

Agra Fort

Today is the festival of Karvn Chauth, when women fast from sunrise to moonrise for a long life for their husband.
The Fort of Agra was built between 1556-70 by Akbar on what had been a brick mud fort. Most of the fort is built from sandstone. Even though the king was Muslim, most of the decoration and architecture is Hindu. The newest section of the fort is made of marble. Here is where Shah Johan was placed under house arrest for eight years by one of his sons, who took over out of fear that all their wealth would be spent on the Taj Mahal. From the fort, the Taj Mahal is visible (if the smog wasn't as bad as it was today). The palace area was similar to what we've seen: multiple gardens with the most beautiful near the Hall of Private Audience and a simpler one outside the Hall of Public Audience.
After seeing the inlaid marble at both the Taj Mahal and the Fort we went to a shop where they still practice this ancient art. They use Makrana marble, the non-porous marble which is translucent. From this they cut out the pattern .25 mm deep and then fill this with semi-precious stone. A typical flower takes 8-10 hours to create.

Translucent Marble

After this shop, we went to the garden opposite the Taj Mahal to see the view - the smog was still thick, primarily smoke from kilns, burning fields and nearby cremations. Smog has been a problem on most of this trip. I was surprised that when we left the cities we didn't leave the smog. It has persisted throughout most of this section of India. Almost all of us have a raspy throat from the air.
Then we went to a South Indian Restaurant, Dasaprakash, for one of the best meals of the trip. What was nice is that they explained what sauces we should use with each of the eight dishes we sampled. We learned the major differences between Northern and Southern Indian cuisine.
                        North                              South

• Spices   cumin                              mustard seed
• Oil         mustard                          coconut
• Bread    wheat                             rice
• Meat     chicken/goat                   seafood

In the afternoon, we went to a market serving middle income folks. The sounds and sights continue to amaze us - somehow it works here. 

A little color at the market place