decay

i have always maintained and often repeated that timing in visiting historical monuments here in india is the most important factor in the rating that your visit gets.

this saturday saw me getting out of delhi, a long awaited break. although the program was for rishikesh, it was later changed to fatehpur sikri. om wanted to click which he anyways wasn't really able to ;)

got started later than 3 in the morning, late by over an hour. but reached when it was still cooler. started with om getting pissed off by the change in how things work around there and then roaming around the fort complex without a guide.

while om, aro and jo were most interested in exercising their photography skills, i wanted to have some group photographs when while getting bored i realised a story there. looking at the uneven growth of wild shrub in the place where once there would have been much revered tulsi plant of maharani jodha bai herself, i lamented the decay.

the place of tulsi:-



that was the point when i pointed my camera at the walls, the crevices, the cornices, the architecture, the doors and everything. the first thought was how beautiful it all would have been in its glory:-

this is one of those exquisitely done parapets which amazes me:-



i am sure they would have looked beautiful in their times, they seem eroded now. what makes me curious is that although the age of the parapet above and this one below would be much similar, why is there such a marked difference in their erosion pattern:-



another beautiful art in stone:-



this is the most beautiful piece i discovered that day. absolutely breathtakingly stunning:-



before soon, my cheerful disposition which was basking in the thoughts of being part of regal settings was defiled by a cruel pungent stink and brought me face to face with the cycle of time which i had always maintained takes its toll. the smell was due to the excreta of rodents which might be infesting the place at night.

rodents:-



lots of them:-



later, more than the excreta, i was saddened by the corruption that was a result of illiteracy and insensitivity among some rodents of our own species. they were more damaging than the rodents of the rodent species.

i wonder what would have happened to the guy who scribbled this, if he would have been caught doing this inside jodha bai's palace in those times:-



some respite was provided by the efforts that were being put up apparently by asi. but it was not really heartening to see that most of the work was being done in bad taste. but there was an effort nonetheless and it solicits appreciation.

the low quality patch-work, probably because this spot does not warrant as much importance:-



another spot of patch work:-



i was so elated by the cleaning-up efforts put up outside the complex and inside it that i suspected that they were repairing things and making them look as good as the original product.

now:-



then:-



the beautiful suspect:-


~~~

after long, i have done a post with pictures. i always like pictures, you may click them to view them enlarged.