Agra Travel Guide 
Agra
is famous as being home to one of the seven wonders of the world-the Taj Mahal.
The architectural splendour of the mausoleums, the fort and the palaces is a vivid
remainder of the mausoleums, the fort and the palaces is a vivid reminder of the
capital in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
While its significance
as a political centre ended with the transfer of the capital to Delhi in 1634
by Shah Jahan, its architectural wealth has secured its place on the international
map.
A pleasant town with comparatively slow pace, Agra is known for
its superb inlay work on marble and soastone by craftsman who are descendant of
those who worked under the Mughals. The city is also famous for its carpets, gold
thread embroidery and leather shoes.
Agra was once the capital of the
Mughal empire and even today it seems to linger in the past . Not surprising ,
for the Mughal emperors with their passion for building, endowed the city with
some of the finest structures in the world . It is very easy to slip away here
through the centuries into the grandeur and intrigues of the Mughal court .
Agra is an old city and it is said that its name was derived from Agrabana,
a forest that finds mention in the epic Mahabharata.
In more recent times
Agra came into prominence when Sikandar Lodi made it his capital city in 1501
. The Lodi rule was to end very soon and Agra passed into the possession of the
Mughals .
It was during the time of the third emperor Akbar that Agra
came into its own . He embarked on the construction of the massive Agra Fort in
1565. Though Akbar was diverted into building a new capital at Fatehpur sikri
not far away.
Agra continued to retain its importance and Shah Jehan,
Akbar's garndson ornamented the city with that masterpiece of Mughal architecture
- the Taj Mahal and built several other beautiful buildings within the Agra fort
.
