The Red Taj

Agra

A pleasant discovery in Agra. Poor state of maintenance by ASI. Also known as Roman Catholic Cemetery. Wonderfully similar to Taj in its construction. Many other gravestones tell long lost stories

It's a beautiful hidden gem, it's an amazing place to get your photoshoot done, as it's a quite place with no rush. I loved it in first sight..

Looks amazing..

Travellers and tourists visiting Agra get so glued to the beauty of the Taj Mahal that they tend to ignore other gorgeous sites in the city.nnOne such unexplored and well-kept secret of Agra is the Red Taj, also known as John Hessing Tomb. But unlike Taj Mahal, the Red Taj was built by a wife in memory of her beloved ‘man’ and this man was called John Hessing!nnWho was John Hessing?nnJohn Hessing was basically a Dutch traveller who ended up becoming an army officer and served in the troop of the Marathas in Agra. Happy with his loyalty and dedication, he was given the command of the Agra Fort by Daulatrao Scindia in 1799. But unfortunately, the fort was attacked by British Army in the year 1803, during when the commander John Hessing was killed in the battlefield trying to defend his fort.nnDevastated and heartbroken by his husband’s death, his wife Ann Hessing commissioned this monument in the memory of her husband. The tomb was designed to look like the Taj Mahal but in red sandstone, a near replica of the original Taj Mahal in Agra.nnThe Red Taj, as it is called, displays Mughal architecture and stands on a square platform with a corridor around, while the top is a typical dome-shaped structure. The dome-shaped pavilions surrounding the Red Taj are symbolic of pride and honour. You can see the grave of John Hessing inside the central hall and a few English inscriptions that are engraved on his tomb.nnToday, the Red Taj is not more than a forgotten tomb or a cemetery in Agra, but it’s certainly a reminder of the era when European adventures and mercenaries visited the country and earned a name for themselves in the local Indian troops. John Hessing too was one of those brave soldiers who rose to the rank of commander. The Red Taj or Hessing Tomb is housed inside a Catholic cemetery in Agra.