Tangents on the golden triangle
Lesser-travelled paths through North India
If you pay a visit to urban North India will invariably be faced with large crowds, trash-laden streets and some of the world’s most exquisitely shocking displays of inequality.
1. Fatehpur Sikri
Distances from the triangle: Delhi (245 km), Agra (40 km), Jaipur (209 km) Getting there: The best way to visit Fatehpur Sikri is a day trip from Agra. Local bus, trains and chartered taxis are all available. Notable sites: Akbar’s tomb, Buland Darwaza, Panch Mahal.
Fatehpur Sikri is perfect for a day trip from Agra, a tradition started by no one less than the first Mughal emperor, Babur. The small village of Sikri was terraformed into a pleasure-garden for the royal family’s rest and relaxation, where they could escape the demands of constant war campaigns and greedy courtiers for a pleasant time reading, writing and hunting. The emperor Akbar, jubilant at the birth of his son here and flush with wealth from conquering Gujarat, built up the village into a capital city, with buildings looking like dreams in red sandstone. The city declined with Akbar’s interest in it, and his death in 1605 sealed its fate. Sikri went back to obscurity, dignified by the title Fatehpur (city of victory), and some of the crowning jewels of Mughal architecture.
Needless to say, the gardens of Babur’s time have disappeared, replaced by the ruins of Akbar’s time.
2. Bharatpur
Distances from the triangle: Delhi (230 km), Jaipur (188 km), Agra (60 km). Getting there: Numerous buses and trains run between Bharatpur and the cities around it. Notable sites: Lohagarh complex, Laxman Mandir, Ganga temple, Jama Masjid. Local specialties: Usual North Indian street food such as kachori, chhole puri and various sorts of thalis were most common. Saini Mishtan Bhandar is a famous local sweet-shop.
During my visit to Bharatpur, I felt the town was defined by two concentric circles. The first is the walls of the 18th-century Lohagarh Fort, and the second is the ring road that encircles the old city.