Hotel Maharashtra Mandal
Travel Desk
Our hotel has a dedicated travel desk to help you with your sight seeing needs in and around Agra. We also assist our customers with any taxi/train reservations.
Following are the places of interest in and around Agra:
TAJ MAHAL
Completed in 1653 A.D. after 22 years of toil by 20,000 labourers, masons, stonecutters and jewellers, under the plan and supervision of Ustad Isa Khan Effendi, it is a monument to the love between the beautiful queen Mumtaz and the great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The word Taj Mahal is an abbreviation of ‘tomb of Mumtaz Mahal’, the regal title of the empress and wife of the emperor Shah Jahan who built it to commemorate the love, nuptial life and death of Mumtaz.
It is taller by 5’ than Qutab Minar but the wonderful sense of proportion, the disciplined arrangement of marble, the latticed screen, the imaginative, luxurious and colourful inlay work, its impressive and expressive aspect, make it more than a building. It is love immortalized in marble.
FORT
A massive structure on the bank of river Yamuna, mainly built by the Emperor Akbar in 1564 A.D., Fort is the creation of four successive emperors i.e. from Akbar to Aurangzeb. It was designed by Mohd. Qasim Khan who was Akbar’s Harbour Master. It took eight years (1565-73) to build at an estimated cost of 34 lakh rupees. The entire structure is in red sandstone and marble, and presents a festive blending of Hindu and Muslim styles of architecture.
ETMADUDDOLAH
An impressive tomb built by the Empress Nur Jehan between 1622-28 A.D. in memory of her father Ghias-ud-din Beg. Nur Jehans mother is also buried there.
The delicate chikan work in the marble arches, the latticed marble screens without a single joint, the inlay work make this tomb the worthy forerunner of Taj.
DAYAL BAGH
Headquarter of the Radhasoami Sect, an offshoot of Hinduism, a beautiful temple of white marble, reposing the holy ashes of its founder is under construction since 1904. The height of the building is likely to be about 193 feet above the ground level. It is said to surpass Taj Mahal in beauty and architecture when completed.
It is a piece of composite art, a harmonious blending of all that appeals to the heart and pleases to the eye. Natural objects such as trees, flowers, fruits and leaves have been reduced into white marble and coloured stones true to nature.
SIKANDRA
Akbar’s mausoleum, situated on Agra Delhi Road, National Highway No.2, was begun by Emperor Akbar and completed by his son Jahangir in 1623 A.D. Akbar’s tomb at Sikandra is a fusion of Hindu and Muslim art and architecture and a harmony of red sandstone and white marble. The tomb is surrounded by a vaft garden where roam herds of black buck and deer, red faced monkeys and black faced langoors entertaining and delighting the visitors and their young ones.
FATEHPUR SIKRI
Forty two kms south west from Agra, the abandoned capital of Akbar the great, was built in 1569 – 1574 A.D. Salient witness to a vanished dream, it is haunted today by memories of a resplandant era. It is a fair fancy in red sandstone and white marble having stong influence in all its buildings and components. It has seventeen structures of historical and architectural significance inside it which warrant attention of every tourist.
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary
Located about 54 kms from Agra it has birds from all over the world come and meet together.
Mathura-Vrindavan
About 55kms from Agra this is the Land of Lord Krishna’s birth, feats and achievements, having a plenty of colourful temples, creating an atmosphere of devotion.