Table of Contents
Introduction
Visiting is the best kind of learning. Visiting makes our bookish knowledge concrete. A man travels the world over in search of knowledge. He sees new things and meets different persons and adds to his store of knowledge a lot of new experiences. India’s culture and civilization are as old as history itself. It is full of old historical monuments and buildings.
The visitors come to India from all over the world. Visiting places is a joyful experience. Last year we got a chance to visit the old capital of India Agra. It is a historic city.
Occasion, Time and Place
After half-yearly examination we the students of class XII gave an application to the principal to allow us to go on an educational tour of Agra. He at once agreed and asked our History teacher Mr. Idris Ahmed Jilani to prepare the programme. We took written permission from our parents. On Dec. 17th the group of twenty students set out for Agra by train.
My Visit to a Historical Place, Agra
We reached Agra in the morning and stayed in a hotel in Agra City. After daily routine work we took tea with some refreshment. We took our cameras, notebooks and bags. I along with my classfellows was ready for visiting the famous city Agra.
(i) Visiting the Taj Mahal
We took rickshaw and reached the world-famous Taj Mahal. We had to walk about half a kilometer to reach the main gate. We bought tickets and entered into the building. Before entering the policemen checked our pockets. The Taj Mahal is a place of the finest architecture in the world. It was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaj Mahal. There was a dome in the center with four minarets on four corners. It was made of white marble. It took twenty years and twenty-two lakhs of rupees to complete this building. We took photos there. Many foreigners were there to visit the Taj Mahal.
(ii) Visiting the Red Fort
Then we visit the Red Fort at Agra. It was also built by Shah Jahan and was made of red stone. The worth seeing places were Diwan-e Aam and Diwan-e-Khas, where the Mughal Emperors met with the public and the courtiers. We saw the room where Shah Jahan was kept as a prisoner and the glass through which he used to see the Taj. There was a statue of a horse where Amar Singh Rathore of Nagaur jumped sitting on his horse over the high walls of the Fort. The horse died there.
(iii) Visiting the Fatehpur Sikr
The next day we went to visit Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar, the great, built this capital in memory of his victory (Fateh) over Gujrat. It was also made of Red Stone. We saw the palace of Jodha Bai and Birbal. The most beautiful. was the Panchmahal, where Akbar used to sit and listen to the sweet music and songs of Tansen. There was the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chishti who blessed Akbar with a son Salim. The most miraculous was the jumping of an old man from the 150 feet high ramparts of the fort into a ditch full of water. Our history teacher told all this about Fatehpur Sikri.
(iv) Visiting Dayal Bagh, Sikandra and Sur Sagar Park
While returning from Fatehpur Sikri we visited Sur Sagar Park. It is a very fine garden which is famous for visiting giant lizards. We saw the statue of Surdas there. From there we visited Sikandra. Here are the tombs of the members of Akbar’s family. There is a fine garden in it. There are deer and monkeys too. We took photos with them. At last, we visited Radha Swami Temple in Dayal Bagh. It is under construction for many years. At night we took a train and returned home.
Conclusion
I learnt a lot about the famous historic city Agra. By visiting these places I thought about the Mughal empire that made these historical buildings. Visiting these places gave me knowledge as well as enjoyment.
Glossary
knowledge = ज्ञान | importance महत्त्व | chance अवसर | civilization = सभ्यता | historical = ऐतिहासिक mouments=स्मारक capital = राजधानी educational tour शैक्षिक भ्रमण | set out रवाना हुए। stayed = ठहरे refreshment नाश्ता | famous प्रसिद्ध entered= प्रवेश किया memory= स्मृति | beloved प्रिय dome= मकबरा 1 minarets मीनारें foreigners = विदेशी । Red Fort = लाल किला | worth seeing देखने योग्य emperor= सम्राट | victory = विजय tomb= कब्र, मजार miraculous अद्भुत ditch खाई rumparts प्राचीर giant lizard= गोह | under construction = निर्माणाधीन
