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Fathepur Sikri ( City of Victory ) was the capital that never was. It was abandoned shortly after its construction, due to lack of water supply. Built during the 16th century, it remained one of the best preserved collection of Mughal architecture in India. Ironic.
At the imposing 54m high archway of the entrance to the complex, one of the Arabic inscriptions read “Isa, son of Mary, said : The world is a bridge, pass over it, but build no houses on it. He who hopes for an hour may hope for eternity. The world endures but an hour. Spend it in prayer, for the rest is unseen”. Hmm, how interesting. I don’t understand what it means, but my bible does not say that at all.
We steered clear of all the local guides, armed with our trusty “Lonely Planet” companion. We did not bargain for young boys, barely in their teens, with engaging smiles and ernest faces, keeping pace behind and beside us, offering to sell souvenirs, take photos, show us places…One bait finally landed home – ” Give me your entrance tickets, we can use the photos to make postcards to sell…Must be of some value since he even offered to trade some pens for that. I fell for that and promptly said “yes”. The ES was harder to persuade – he decided to keep one of our tickets, despite the pleadings.
After the visit, G took a closer look at the entrance ticket ( which cost us IDR 250 for multiple sites, including the Taj Mahal ) and declared that he knows why it is a prize find for the boys – not for the pithy pictures of monuments, but for a tiny scrap of counterfoil which is indistinguishable one from the next. The local ticket costs IDR 10. You do the math…
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