Author: Sandy

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A different Perspective

From Palace to prison- heartbreak and love story of Shah Jahan

Shah Burj with Taj Mahal in the background


Fort of Agra is located little over a mile from the more famous monument in Agra- The Taj Mahal. With in this powerful fortress of red sandstones lies the imperial city of Moghuls. It was established by the Mughal emperor Akbar when Agra was the Mughal capital and served as royal residence and seat of government. There are several points of historical significance within the fort and for more information read this blog (The phrase Palace to Prison is also borrowed from the same blog).

One of the most fascinating story from Fort of Agra is the Shah Burj, also known as Mathammam referring to the octagonal plan of the building. Shah Burj is a small palace overlooking the Yamuna river within Agra Fort and has spectacular view of Taj Mahal and Yamuna revier. Shah Burj was originally built by Akbar, who used it for jharokha-e-darshan, a ‘window’ from which the emperor would provide his subjects a daily morning view of himself, to reassure them of his safety and well-being.

Shah Burj was rebuilt by Shah Jahan between 1632 and 1640 who put his own signature on the building. It is a marble octagonal tower which stands in close proximity to Diwan-i-Khas, was built by Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Taj mahal was also built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal and stands as a symbol of undying love and devotion.

Shah Burj

The dome of the building is topped by a gilded tower and the floor of the chamber is paved with marble so as to resemble a “pachisi” board ( Pachisi- traditional Indian cross and circle board game). The rooms are paved with light marble up to the top of the ceiling along with an open pavilion with a shallow lotus-shaped tank on the floor, featuring a water jet in the center. Floors, walls and ceiling are covered with delicate carvings.

Shah Burj Carvings
Interior of Shah Burj
Carvings on the column

There are several stories related to Shah Burj, one of these is that it was here that Shah Jahan, along with his daughter, Jahanara Begum, spent his remaining days after being imprisoned by his son and successor, Aurangzeb. In 1658 Shah Jahan became ill, and immediately all three of his sons started making a bid for power and Aurangzeb was able to seize Agra Fort and imprisoned his dad in the fort. The last thing Shah Jahan would have thought when designing and building this wonderful palace is that it would become his prison years later. It is said that during his final years of imprisonment in the chambers beside the Burj, Shah Jahan was supposed to have looked longingly out at the distant view of the Taj Mahal he had built for his empress Mumtaj. In January 1666 Shah Jahan passed away, and was buried next to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, at the Taj Mahal.

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A time for everything

Lake Moraine is a glacially fed lake in Banff National Park and is situated in the valley of Ten Peaks. Lake Moraine is the only lake I visited twice when I was in Banff. First time I took a shuttle around 6.30AM and spent about 2 hours on the rock pile appreciating the azure blue color with ten peaks in the background. Second time I went during sunrise and had a very different view and colors as the sun lit up the valley of the ten peaks with pinks and gold.

         I missed going to Banff with brother and sister in 2001 and always regretted missing on that trip.  When we finally decided to go in 2023, the trip was riddled with changes. Original plan has to be scrapped as it didn’t fit our schedule and I had rescheduled entire trip 2 weeks before the original date.  When I looked at the weather forecast for the week we were going, it seemed likely that it is going to rain entire week and then threat of wildfires. There was no guarantee that we will have clear skies. I planned to go to Moraine Lake every day of our trip as our scheduled sunrise shuttle was on the last day and I didn’t want to take a chance of not seeing this lake in its fully glory.  As it turned out that we had perfect weather for the whole time we were in Banff and the day we went to see sunrise, we had a “Blue bird” day with perfect blue skies.

        As much as we like control things, we have no control over anything especially things like weather and we need learn to enjoy and appreciate each moment as it is presented to us- a lesson I am trying to learn and practice. I am grateful for the opportunities to appreciate true beauty of our world by letting go of expectations and practicing mindfulness, focusing on present moment.

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The Pale Blue Dot

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.”
Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

“Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet earth taken on February 14, 1990, by the Voyager 1 space probe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles), as part of that day’s Family Portrait series of images of the Solar System. In the photograph, Earth’s apparent size is less than a pixel; the planet appears as a tiny dot against the vastness of space, among bands of sunlight reflected by the camera.Voyager 1, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and take one last photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space, at the request of astronomer and author Carl Sagan. The phrase “Pale Blue Dot” was coined by Sagan in his reflections on the photograph’s significance, documented in his 1994 book of the same name.”(Pale Blue Dot – Wikipedia)

For a pale blue dot, our earth is definitely beautiful and filled with moments that take your breath away. As I grow older, I have learnt to appreciate this pale blue dot and everything it has to offer. Spiritually speaking, the pale blue dot image is a reminder that we are nothing but a speck in this wide space and it is on us to cherish the time we have on this pale blue dot.