Fatehpur Sikri

About Fatehpur Sikri, Agra

Akbar's short-lived sixteenth-century imperial capital

• Emperor Akbar founded this fortified city thirty-seven kilometers west of Agra in 1571 to serve as his empire's administrative center, abandoning it fourteen years later due to water shortages.
• The site divides into a secular palace complex and a religious quarter.
• Visitors enter the Jama Masjid courtyard through Buland Darwaza, a fifty-four-meter red sandstone gateway built after Akbar's conquest of Gujarat.
• Inside the courtyard sits the white marble tomb of Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, featuring intricate pierced-stone screens.
• Across the complex, the palace area contains the five-tiered Panch Mahal, the Diwan-i-Khas with its carved central stone pillar, and Jodha Bai's Palace.
• Winter mornings between November and February provide comfortable walking conditions across the paved courtyards.
• The monument remains open every day from sunrise until sunset.