Within the city, the Tomb of Salim Chishti enshrines the burial place of the Sufi Saint, Salim Chisti. The tomb itself is built out of marble and includes inscriptions from the Quran. Because of it’s Muslim background, I was given a cap (I think it was this) to cover my head before entering.

Within the mausoleum, people perform rituals to ask for a blessing and fulfillment of their wishes. Inside the mausoleum, people tie thread along the walls and it is believed that this is a reminder to the saint of their wishes – maybe my wish will come true!

More pictures of Fatehpur Sikri here

It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his wife (and then later the emperor himself) and was built out of marble. The different colours on the building are purely a consequence of different varieties of marble from different parts of the world that have different colours. Artisans from all over were employed to do this work.

What’s also interesting, is that the minarets (the four tower structures) are tilted slightly outward to prevent them from crashing onto the dome in the event of an earthquake.

I’d seen pictures of Taj Mahal in the past, but I never really paid much attention to them – it was hard to tell that the building was built out of marble, so it just looked like a white structure to me. Upon seeing it in real life, I definitely had a much much greater appreciation for its beauty.

Links to photos here