Things to do in Sikandra Agra

Even at first glance, the red sandstone open pyramidal tomb stands out. Akbar started it himself but made little headway. Astrologers had predicted that he would live to be 120 years old. He was in no hurry — or perhaps he was superstitious enough to fear that its completion would invite death before his time was up. He actually died in 1605, at the age of 63.

The deceased emperor's artistic and pleasure-loving son Jahangir took up the thread, though in desultory fashion. The process lingered on for several years, with the result that the monument has evident traces of conflict of design. This is particularly apparent in the finishing touches, such as the crowning pyramid of marble and the flamboyant gateway giving entry to the extensive grounds in which the tomb is placed. This gateway is one of the few surviving examples of Jahangir's architectural achievement in Agra. Most of the additions he made in Akbar's fort were arbitrarily demolished by his son Shahjahan. The stylistic transition and emerging preference for the use of marble thus marks out Sikandara as a bridge between the rugged sandstone favoured by Akbar, and the dazzling marble and pietra dura of his grandson.

There seems little doubt that Akbar's original conception of an open pyramid had some mystical significance. Affinities have been suggested with the five-storey Panch Mahal he built in Fatehpur Sikri. Jahangir's contribution is characteristic: touches of marble in the main structure, and the gateway already mentioned. The gateway's four minarets rising from the corners are particularly striking. The original cupolas were carried away by the Jats when they occupied Agra in 1764, but have been successfully restored.

The open fifth floor, which is the last step of the ascending pyramid, is girdled by a marble cloister enclosed by screens fretted in sophisticated geometric designs. There are indications, as Fergusson has suggested, that its central platform was meant to support a light dome. Finch, who visited Sikandara in 1611, was more emphatic. The tomb, he says, was intended "to be marched over with the most curious white marble, and to be seeled all within with pure sheet-gold, richly inwrought". When he visited it again, Finch saw drawn over "a rich tent, with a semaine over the tombe". Marble rings at the corners of the cloisters were apparently used to hold the "rich tent" in place. Jahangir may have left it open intentionally in compliance with his father's wishes, with arrangements for it to be covered during the celebration of the Urs.

As may be expected, the sarcophagus is on the ground floor, covered with a plain slab of white marble. Midway between the staircases of the fourth storey is a small opening through which it is possible to crawl into a low-roof secret chamber containing a false tomb? The culmination of this unusual arrangement is a white marble cenotaph in the centre of the open cloister. It is inscribed with the 29 names of God, but there is no mention of the Prophet. This omission might be attributed to the curious system of belief Akbar propagated in his lifetime in which he came close to claiming divinity. Cloud motifs appear on the head and foot panels, which is also exceptional in Mughal tombs, though not necessarily attributable to Chinese workmen. In retrospect it is unfortunate that Akbar did not complete his own mausoleum at Sikandara. Had he been able to do so, posterity might have had the good fortune of gaining further insights into the character of this most unusual monarch.