… to Agra and the “Red Fort” …

… on our India overland adventure. Our next stop was a marble inlay factory. Although most inlay work is done as a cottage industry in home workshops, a demonstration was set up to show us how the work is done today, in the same style as it was done while the Taj Mahal was being built. A hand-propelled cutting wheel is used to slice thin pieces of semi-precious stones. These slices are then shaped by a master cutter to the desired size using the same wheel. Other workmen use a scribe to draw traditional patterns on a slab of marble which has been colored by applying a thin coat of red clay. The clay makes the scratched-in patterns stand out and can be easily washed off when the inlay work is finished. Each pattern drawn is carefully scraped out of the marble by hand using a heavy pointed steel chisel.

 

The red chrysanthemum motif below is composed of 64 individual pieces.

When completed, the table tops can be used indoors or out, are impervious to staining, and need to be cleaned only with mild soap and water. They can be lit from below, and the translucency of the Indian marble allows the pattern to shine through the top. The bottom two photos show the same table top from above and lit from below. It was an interesting stop.                         

 

After a lovely buffet lunch at a five star hotel, Waheed took us to Agra Fort. Built by Akbar the Great in 1565, the fort is surrounded by two moats. The outer moat was filled with snapping turtles, and the inner with crocodiles.

 

Although much of the fort, including all of the exterior, is built of red sandstone, there is an interior palace built of white marble by Shah Jahan. Parts of this palace served as housing for his harem, and drawing and sleeping rooms for the Shah. The Shah built two large marble halls to serve as audience rooms for visitors, inlaying the walls with precious stones and colored flowers. Legend has it that this structure was practice for the artisans who later built the Taj Mahal.

 

 

 

There is also a large sunken marble bath, the size of a swimming pool.

 

After the completion of the Taj Mahal, the Shah was imprisoned by his son in one of the towers of the Red Fort, from which he could see the Taj. He died on the tower balcony, looking toward his wife’s tomb. Below is the balcony and his view of the Taj Mahal.

 

He had laid the foundation for a black marble tomb for himself, but was buried by his daughter in the Taj Mahal. His black tomb was never completed although the foundation is still visible. The entire complex was interesting and beautiful.

But our day was still not over … more in the next blog post!