Wake up call, breakfast, on the bus – it’s a tour, but you know, it’s getting us everywhere we need, and so far, so good. We are out of the hotel before 8:00 and to the Taj before 8:30. Bhanu rounds us all up, and introduces us to our “official” photographer and his helper (who he has already explained will take our group picture, and then will also take individual pictures for 100 rupees each – however we have to be very specific with him and tell him how many we want, because he will continue to take them and you could end up with 20, or 30 or more! Thank you for the warning, Bhanu). We then queue up, cross the street and separate out for the ladies and the gents side of security. Bags through the scanner, into the curtained cubicle box we go, wanded and out – Maggi loses her cigarettes and lighter (oops – must leave them on the bus next time). Bhanu had already warned me – in a more general, group way – that little stuffed animals are not allowed inside – by telling the story of his friend who had “Boo” and he wanted to take “Boo” with him into the Taj, and Bhanu says, but who is Boo? And his friend shows him a little stuffed animal, to which Bhanu explains boo cannot come….he is a FANTASTIC tour guide – it is only day 3 and I can’t even begin to explain how wonderful he is –and all that he does. So, PS, I have nothing but my phone with me (poor Sunny relegated to the bus, I know he would have loved this….).
He corrals us once again, and off we go. Everyone knows the story of the Taj, right? The ultimate expression of love between a husband and wife – the Emperor Shah Jahan built it to enshrine his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It cost over 30 million rupees and took 20,000 men 22 years to build it. The entire complex is completely symmetrical, with formal gardens, a water channel and bronze fountains leading to the mausoleum and flanked by a guest house and a mosque, built identically. And of course, the ultimate tragedy – Shah Jahan became so incapacitated by his wife’s death that he could no longer rule effectively, and his son overthrew him, imprisoning him in the Agra Fort (which we will see later this afternoon) before the shrine was even finished. So, there you have it, a very quick history – and now onto the photo bomb!
To say the Taj Mahal is stunning is an understatement. We are so incredibly lucky, it is a picture perfect day, not a cloud in the sky, and the crowds are not so crazy yet that we can’t easily walk around. We head through the Seedi gate entrance …
…and stand transfixed (at least I am) looking across the gardens to the Taj Mahal.
I mean, I’ve read about it, seen pictures, sure, but never really thought too terribly much about seeing it. Now, standing here on this gorgeous day, gazing down the gardens to the “Dream in Marble,” it is truly breathtaking the size, scope and emotion that lies behind it. Wow.
After that little bit of awe, we are gathered for our group photo, and then true to Bhanu’s predictions, our photog and his assistant go for the gusto – positioning us here and there, trying to snap a bizillion photos. We stop him at 3, M&R stop him at 2 (way to go M&R!) – but of course we’re right behind him taking our own “un”professional shots.
Now it’s time to wander! We walk down the through the gardens on the raised paths, past the center reflecting pool, where some random guy keeps telling me the best picture is right here with the Taj reflected in the water. That may be so, but we are on a mission, so we wave him off. The gardens are lovely to traverse through, but we are intent on the main attraction lying dead ahead. We do get side tracked a bit when we start snapping shots of each other halfway down the walkway. A guy who was cleaning the water/ponds comes over and says he’ll take our photos – and he does a great job – of course holding his hand out for a “tip” for his services. It’s worth 100 rupees. It’s the Taj after all!
Finally we reach the mausoleum itself, where we have to take put on our supplied booties to be able to walk around up on the marble base that houses the tomb, as well as to actually enter the interior to see the 2 tombs. Up close, the detail is just stunning. There is calligraphy around every domed entrance, marble inlayed with gems and black onyx, reflective tiles, bas relief and plant motifs.. Everywhere you look, the white marble just dazzles and stands in perfect contrast to the azure blue skies.
Unfortunately we can’t take pictures inside the tomb, so we simply walk around in a circle, viewing the tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan from behind the intricately carved screens. (These are actually fake tombs, as the real graves are on a lower level.) This is the only place in the entire 42 acre complex that is not symmetrical. Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb is directly centered inside the mausoleum, but once Shah Jahan died, his tomb was placed next to hers, which created the asymmetry.
Back outside in the sunshine, we wander around the base of the Tomb, snapping pictures of the Mosque, the river, the minaret, a modeling Maggi (she’s taking after all the Indian and Asian women who are modeling and posing all over the place!) and anything else that strikes our eyes.
Finally prying ourselves away from our walk around the Mausoleum plinth, we head back down to ground level to traverse the gardens once again and join our group, stopping here and there for more photos.
As we make our way to the entrance gate, lo and behold, the place where the random guy tried to stop me is in fact an excellent place for a reflecting pictures! And I got it for free!
Bye bye Taj!
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