Day 7, Tuesday - Bharatpur and Agra

If it’s Tuesday, it must be Bharatpur. Arrive at 06.00 hrs at a royal kingdom where the Jats, rather than the Rajputs, ruled. Bharatpur’s Jat history is not too old, with Suraj Mal establishing a firm stronghold in a region contested by both the Rajputs and the Mughals. Suraj Mal’s exploits are legendary, and the fort, Lohargarh, or Iron Fort, has a history that recounts it with pride. The only fort in the state to have bastions of mud, these proved meritorious because they simply swallowed up the cannon shells, not allowing them to impact.
However, it is not for its fort, or palace, or even the close by fortified resort of Deeg that passengers of the Palace on Wheels are here; Their attention is drawn to the bird sanctuary, one of the finest in the world. The Keoladeo Ghana National Park was developed by a royal edict when dykes were created so that water could be canalized for the hunting preserve at the maharaja of Bharatpur wished to create. In the early decade of this century, Bharatpur became famous among visiting British royalty and aristocracy for the amount of game the visitors bagged. These days, thankfully, only shooting by cameras is permitted in this sanctuary with over three hundred species of birds, many of them migrant species that come from parts as distant as Siberia and China.
After visiting the sanctuary in the morning, visitors travel by coach to Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone city build by Emperor Akbar on a lavish scale, but which he had to abandon soon after because of shortage of water. From here to Agra, first stop for lunch at Welcome Group Mughal Sheraton and then for a visit to the world’s most well-known monument and well worth its fame; The Taj Mahal. Built in the memory of his beloved empress by Emperor Shah Jahan, this marble mausoleum is the greatest gesture of love known to mankind, and is breathtakingly, bewitchingly beautiful. Land for the building of the Taj Mahal in Agra came from the maharaja of Jaipur and the marble used in its construction was from the mines of Makrana, also in Rajasthan. The precious stones used in its inlay, and the craftsmen employed for the twenty-two years its construction took, came not only from India, but from all over the World.

The Taj Mahal is the perfect finale to your Royal Sojourn.