Fatehpur Sikri

Today I am presenting Fatehpur Sikri, just west of Agra, founded by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 16th-century. Red sandstone buildings cluster at its center. Today we will show you Mariam ki Kothi, Jodhabai Palace, Khwabgah or Royal Bedroom, Tansen Chabutra, Panch Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas, Diwan-e-Aam and Turkish Sultana's House.
Mariyam's House is architecturally small and simple building but profusely painted in the interior and the exterior, in pleasing colour combination with gold. It is composed of four rooms, one in the centre and other three at the back facing south. Rama and Hanuman, most popular Hindu deities are carved in relief of the brackets, on the northern façade of the building, which shows Akbar's liberal attitude towards the art without any discrimination. The interior has beautiful paintings.
Jodha Bai Palace was constructed by Akbar for his favourite wife Jodha Bai who was a Rajput Princess.and allowed to worship Hindu deity in her palace. Jodha Bai Ka Rauza is an excellent example of the fusion of Hindu and Muslim architectures. The palace has distinct Gujarati and Rajasthani architectural patterns.
Khwabgah or the Dream Palace, as the name suggests, is the most beautiful building of the royal complex and was conceived for the emperor's personal use. It has a separate room for the emperor to hold secrete official meetings with his nobles. The bedroom known as Khilwatkada-i-Khas was surrounded by a pillared verandah with a stone-tiled sloping roof. It was connected to the imperial harem and Panch Mahal via a covered passage. The ground floor chambers are simple but the emperor's personal chamber on the first floor is pompously oramented using carved flat panels.
Panch Mahal is located on the northeast direction of Jodh Bai's palace. It is a five-floored pillared pavilion. This extra ordinary building was called badgir or wind tower, which was constructed to alleviate the heat and is a very popular architectural mechanism of Persian architecture. Originally, it was related to main Royal chamber and Jodha Bai's palace.
Diwan-i-Khas Hall has a carved central pillar. Diwan-i-khas or Hall of Private Audience is situated in the northeast corner of the royal complex with a huge and richly carved pillar in the center. The central platform attached to the pillar was the seat of the emperor while the diagonal galleries are believed to be the seat of ministers and nobles that were entertained here. This square red sandstone building has four double-storeyed façades. Though, the building lacks much ornamentation yet the pillar in the center is certainly one of the masterpieces of Mughal architecture.
Anup talao (peerless pond) is an ornamental pool in front of the Khawabgah built in 1576.
This square red sandstone masonary tank has a beautiful island platform at the centre connected by four stone bridges to the sides of the tank. The chabutra was in the centre and surrounded by a pool which had rose water in it, making it smell fresh and pleasant. The King used to sit in the front and the queens would sit in the panch mahal and watch Tansen.
At the central platform known as Tansen Chabutra, it is said that Tansen, one of the Navratnas of the Mughal court, sang his classical ragas.
Diwan-e-Am or Hall of Public Audience, situated near Agra Gate in Fatehpur Sikri, was the place where Akbar heard petitions of the public and did justice every morning.
Turkish Sultana’s House is one of the most highly ornamented buildings in Fatehpur Sikri. The interior of this house is as richly carved as the exterior and hardly a square inch of space has been allowed to remain unattended. This house is believed to be the residence of a Turkish Queen, one of the Akbar’s favourites, whose name was Turkish Sultana. But there is no strong evidence available to support this fact. Its exterior as well as interior has ornamental relief of geometric and floral designs in red sandstone which give the impression of timber decoration.