Sikandara

Sikandara, the resting place of Emperor Akbar, was a beautiful mausoleaum in red sandstone and surrounded by well-maintained lawns which had deers roaming in the park. We walked into the tomb, after removing our shoes at the entrance. It was a dark passage and we followed some other tourists going inside. The passage became darker and darker as we went further inside and we were a bit uncomfortable. We reached the inner tomb, where Akbar was buried and it was pitch black. I admit both of us felt scared. I don't know why but the place felt as if there was a lingering presence. We decided that we would turn back without going around the tomb. As we turned, a loud out-of-the earth voice called out 'Allah-u-akbar'. We stopped in our tracks, stunned. Though I reasoned out that there must be a recorded voice activated by someone stepping over some particular stone or touching a wall, it felt unearthly. There, we were fleeing the tomb of Akbar the Great, scared of ghosts and a voice tells us that 'God is great' and is omnipresent.

Our fear relieved, we took a nice walk around the premises. There certainly is an atmosphere of calm in that place and more importantly, the feeling of some being present in that tomb. I recalled from my history lessons as a child, that Akbar was renowned for his generosity and his just attitudes towards his subjects. I decided that I liked best Sikandara from all the places I had seen upto then in the two days we had been in North India.