The public court, where the Shah would dispense justice.
A closer look at the Shah's seat.
I feel bad for the many people who have pictures of a cute, but grumpy little blonde girl. But in Ali's defense, she was bombarded with people wanting a picture with her at the Taj Mahal the day before. The little girl just needs her space!
This was the imperial court, where the government of the empire met.
The Shah sat on top of the central pillar, and the various ministers would sit around the upper balcony area. Lesser officials listened from below.
The central pillar, with symbols of the four main religions of the empire - Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and the religion the Shah created that was a combination of the other three.
Another view of it later in the day when the fog had burned off, and more tourists had arrived.
Another little structure with interesting architectural detail. I also liked watching the man wash the ground with his water bottle and hand broom.
The Panch Mahal.
Five stories of progressively smaller platforms, where members of the Shah's harem could watch the goings on of the court.
We're posing right in the middle of a game. Do you recognize it?
It's a life-sized Parcheesi game. The dice table in the middle and two of the four game board sides. It was played with women from the harem dressed in saris of red, yellow, green, or blue as the pieces.
The harem living quarters.
I looked up to the top dome of the Panch Mahal and saw it covered in green parrots.
Isn't he a cutie?
Another shot of the Panch Mahal after the fog was gone.
Another area of entertainment. This little lake has an island in the middle with four narrow bridges that lead to it, right in front of the Shah's palace.
The Shah's palace.
The second story on the left was his viewing area for the performances outside.
One of the ground floor hallways.
The king bed!
It was surrounded by rose water when he lived there, so it was also a water bed, ha ha!
The lake/island with the Shah's palace visible on the left. The Muslim queen's palace is to the right (out of the picture). The entrance to the other queens' palaces across the pond. Musicians would play on the lake and dancers would dance around, across the bridges, and whatnot.
The Shah had three wives. This is the palace of his Muslim wife.
By far the smallest palace, but also the closest (just across the lake). She had her own entrance to his place.... or vice versa, I guess.
Also originally decorated in diamonds, so there is that.
Each of those shaped shelves in the wall were filled with filigree lamps and glass in her day, so the whole place would have been lit up and sparkly. Especially with the diamonds on the walls too!
Her entire suite was intricately carved.
I adored the ceiling with the different geometric shapes, especially the 5, 6, and 8 pointed stars.
The Christian queen's palace.
She was a Portuguese Catholic from Goa, which is south of Mumbai.
Her palace included her own personal church.
She loved color and this is the ceiling of her bedchamber. Not bad endurance for over four hundred year old paint.
The Chapel.
Detail of the window emphasizing the cross.
A mural on the rear wall of the church.
The entrance gate to the Hindu queen's palace.
By far the largest, as unlike the other two who had no children she gave birth to a son. She also had her own kitchen as she was a vegetarian.
Looking back towards the entrance.
The main dwelling of the queen.
We snapped a pic of the kiddos...
...then our guide snapped a pic of all of us. I'm so sad as I didn't get a photo of him. He was by-far the youngest and has a little boy Hiram's age and a little girl Ali's age.
One of two mirrored wings for summer and winter. The winter one received more warmth from the sunlight and had thick curtains to trap the heat. The summer one was filled with screens in the walls for the breeze off the river to blow in and cool the space.
A detail shot looking into the summer house.
The Hindu queen adored her earrings, and these are carved all around her kitchen. As far as we could tell no two looked the exact same.
A new pavilion was built recently to match the architectural style of the old city. It was filled with fun souvenir shops. We were taken to a shop that sells the filigree lamps that the Muslim queen would have recognized. They were gorgeous, but we had to pass this time (our rug will count as our souvenir for the next decade of travels, ha!).
Can you see the colorful and mirrored umbrella in the bottom right? I love those umbrellas and would love to have a collection of them, but what would I do with them?
