AGRA CITY GUIDE

AGRA CITY GUIDE

Agra is one of the most important districts of India who has an important place in the Indian history with a glorious past like that of New Delhi. The first reference comes when Agra was referred to as Agravana during the age of Mahabharata and it was also known as the abode of the Aryans. It was Ptolemy who first narrated Agra in the modern times. Agra’s importance dates back to the Mughal dynasty and modern Agra was constructed by Sikandar Lodhi the last of all the Lodhi Sultan during the 16^th Century. Babar became the Mughal ruler after the battle of Plassey and introduced the Persian form of gardening. It was Akbar who built the Fort of Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. Fatehpur Sikri was the capital for almost over a decade. Jahangir the son of Akbar took initiative to beautify Agra with huge palaces and gardens though he spent most of his time in Kashmir to which he was very attached passionately. Shah Jahan took Agra to the zenith of mystic beauty after he took over the throne of the Mughal Empire with such colossal yet soft architecture of the Taj Mahal in the memory of his late wife Mumtaz Mahal. Later Shah Jahan shifted to Shah Jahanabad in Delhi and pronounced the new Capital and the sear of the Mughal throne was placed there. In 1658 Shah Jahan was usurped by his son Aurangzeb and imprisoned Shah Jahan at the Agra Fort and Aurangzeb re-shifted the capital from Delhi to Agra till the death of Shah Jahan. The death of Aurangzeb marked the end of the Mughal Empire in India and marking the path for the British to take over the country.

The story of Agra begins much ahead of the construction of the Taj mahal and also gets to find it being mentioned in the epic story of Mahabharata. According to beliefs and legends the present city of Agra before it was built it was the city of Raja Badal Singh whose fort was conquered by King Jaipal and by the Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. Agra was fortified and made beautiful by the Mughals with huge magnificent Taj, the Agra Fort, Itmad-Ud-Daulah and few others at Sikandra which proves to be the witness of such majestic architecture by the Mughals.

Agra is located in the western part of Uttar Pradesh and is bounded by Mathura in the East, on the south it is the Dhaulpur District, on the east it the Firozabad district and on the west it is Bharatpur. The district of Agra is situated on the banks of the river Yamuna which too has a significance why the city was built on the bank of the river. Census according to the 1991 the total area covered under the district of Agra is 4027 square kilometres wherein having a total population of 27, 51,021 comprising of both male and female and constituting to both rural and urban population.

The climatic conditions are varied with during the summers the temperature rises and makes it a very hot summer and temperature rising anything above 45 degrees Celsius and during the winter it steeps down to 4 degrees Celsius making it quiet cold and also the river has a great influence on the different types of climate but sadly during the summers it dries up giving an ugly look to the surrounding area of Taj mahal as this becomes a stretch of parched land. The most favourable season to visit Agra is during October to March. The district is 169 meters above sea level and mostly Hindi and Urdu is widely spoken language. The district has a very continental sub-tropical climate which leads to long and hot summers during which dry winds called the loo blow in this area and also being located on the Indo-Gangetic plain it experience s a heavy rainfall which records a rainfall of about 67 cm every year.

District of Agra is divided into six proportionate tehsils and fifteen blocks. There are local panchayats that account to a number of 114 legal panchayats and 638 gram sabhas. There are 904 villages in all of the Agra and out of which there are 41 district police stations of which 16 comes under the purview of the urban and 25 under the rural location. The total number of broad gauge line is 196 km and is 35 km meter gauge. There are 29 railway stations with 144 bus stops spread all across Agra district.

Tourism plays a major role in the economy of Agra but besides that the city has a strong foothold on the industrial unit it has on its land. Many manufacturing units are seen all over Agra and the producers and suppliers do find a large prospect in such industries  and also a huge market potential. Automobiles, leather goods, handicrafts and stone carvings are other small unit of business that is also seen in Agra. Agra is the home to some of the most famous spas and resorts of the country in the hotel industry. Agriculture being yet another source of economy index but off course primarily based on the tourism and small scale industries in the district along with the economic belt of the major industrial set up in the city.

Agra is the paradise to hold the most magnificent monument the Taj Mahal which is the one among the other Seven Wonders of the World. Indeed it is worth such a praise made out of marble with intricate work and with such technology used that even the four pillars surrounding the Taj Mahal fall due to any catastrophe they will fall apart and the main building would not be destroyed. Due to the chemical industries around the monument it is turning yellow and the world heritage has taken over to preserve the monument as it was and should be. Besides the Taj there is other places in Agra which is worth a mention is Fatehpur Sikri, Soor Sarovar, Sikandra, Itmad-Ud-Daulah and few other and lesser known monuments are the Chausat Khamba, the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Chini ka Rauza, Mariam’s Tomb, Chhatri of Raja Jaswant Singh, and other places of interest in and around Agra is Mathura, Vrindavan, Dayal Bagh, Bharatpur Bird sanctuary, Chambal Safari, religious places like the Kailash temple, Mankameshwar temple, Balkeshwar temple and Guru ka taal.