Fatepur Sikri

As I mentioned previously we had the opportunity on the recent trip to India to see some things I had never seen on any of my previous visits, and one of them was to visit Fatepur Sikri, the city associated with the brilliant Mughal ruler Akbar. I've always had more than a bit of a man crush on Akbar, and one of my goals for the next year is to devote more time to studying his life. Even though we believe that Akbar was dyslexic he still managed to be an extraordinary scholar, and he had Fatepur Sikri built as a place where he could meet with scholars and religious leaders and debate with them. It was here that he helped design and establish a new religion, which sadly didn't survive long after his own death. He's often considered to be a very secular ruler, but, truthfully, I've always read him the other way: that is, he created a new religion not simply because he was secular and thus devalued religion, but instead because he was so spiritual that he ignored the differences between religions. I suppose it doesn't matter in the end because his new religion was not popular, especially with his own Muslim followers. Nevertheless, for me it was a joy to finally visit his city. I only wish I had had more time to scout around on my own, and maybe I'll get back there someday.