The elephant memorial

What is that tower in the distance?" asks the guide, "Anyone know?"

We squint into the distance and make guesses.
A watch tower.
A minar.
A lighthouse.
A distance marker.

Then I remember the documentary I had seen about Akbar the Great and how he loved elephants.

The story goes that his favorite elephant was buried here, and that the outside of the tower was decorated with hundreds of elephant tusks. Now those tusks are either gone or replaced by stone replicas.

"You're the only one who has ever known the answer," says the guide.

Yesssssssssssss.
Chalk that up to time well spent on documentaries.

Restorers in Agra

These guys and their bamboo scaffold labor above the heads of thousands of tourists a day.

After they finish with their work for the day, the monkeys come to play on their scaffolding.

I always find restoration work fascinating.

All kinds of restoration: buildings, art, and the restoration of relationships, too.
Restoration keeps things beautiful.

Abandoned city

The abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri is a fascinating place.
It took about fifteen years to build this massive palace complex and its surrounding fortress. Akbar the Great's entire court was moved here, but then it was abandoned a year after its completion.
Maybe because there wasn't enough water. Maybe because there were wars and world conquering to deal with and there was no more time for playing parcheesi with live, human pieces or carving intricate details in red sandstone.

Some of the details, like this one of carved earrings are so well preserved.
The Hindu wife of the Mughal emperor had a thing for earrings. There is a wall lined with these earring designs--hundreds of them--and each one is unique.
Amazing wealth and artistry.

If lack of water was the reason for leaving Fatehpur, then it seems they've come up with some sort of solution for that now.
For visitors, there are now several of these drinking water stops. Perhaps it would be possible to move back in.

The "original left over water, though, really doesn't look very appealing.

Even with all the magnificent construction and detailing, I probably would have wanted something a little more fresh to drink, too.

Buffalo beach

There's a place in Agra where all the buffalo congregate for their bath.
Not something I see every day.