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Jamas arrived on Thursday night. I went to the International Airport and waited for a little over an hour. Jamas' flight was a little late and I waited in a little seated area while mosquitoes swirled around and other friends and family awaited other passengers. Eventually, Jamas ambled out and we headed to the hotel. It was great to to see Jamas and great to have him in India.
We only got about five hours of sleep before we had to get up to get ready to go to Delhi.
We had a great flight to Delhi on Air India (Indian Airlines). We had some business to do first and then we headed to lunch and then went to Gandhi Smriti (formerly "Birla House" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birla_House) which has a museum about Mahatma Gandhi and the Martyr's Column, which marks the spot where Gandhi was assassinated.
Gandhi Smriti also has beautiful gardens and is a relatively quiet and peaceful place to walk around (though, we were there in the late afternoon).
We then headed to India Gate, not to be confused with the Gateway of India (Mumbia) or Delhi Gate (Agra). It is a memorial to the Indian
soldiers that died in World War One and is near the President's House and other government buildings.
At the gate, there were tons of people trying to sell us stuff. If we even looked at something, they would follow us around continuing to try to sell us their goods.
Regardless, India Gate and the gardens, fountains, and other structures around it are beautiful and it is a great place to visit. I found it particularly interesting to see about five dogs sleeping at the base of India Gate, probably because it was roped off to us. It was like they went somewhere we couldn't be so THEY could get some peace and rest away from everyone else.
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After visiting Delhi Gate we went to the Lotus Temple, which is the Bahá'í Mother Temple for the Indian Subcontinent. The building is designed to look like a lotus flower.
http://www.bahaindia.org/temple/introduction.html
Near the entrance, we had to take off our shoes (same at the Taj, and at a lot of religious places of worship, in general); personally, I just enjoy walking around in my socks or barefoot (a few days later, I got to walk all
around the Taj Mahal barefoot 😊.
The worship area takes up the entire floor and I could see the underside of the lotus architecture. A very elegant building. Apparently it is more visited (4.5 million a year) than the Taj Mahal and may be the most visited building in the world. Which comes as a surprise to me since I had never heard of it before that day.
When entering the building we were asked to not speak inside, so Jamas and I resorted to hand gestures and facial expressions, which led to mild goofing around, especially when "discussing" the signs around the building quoting a Bahá'í spiritual leader.
We walked around the building counter-clockwise. At one point one of the missionaries there began a song of worship at the upper-middle of the floor and we were asked to sit. It was a beautiful song, very serene.
After that we headed out and were approached by another visiting missionary (people volunteer from all over the world to spend time there). She asked us where we were from and we talked for a bit.
We then headed to the hotel and chilled out for the rest
of the evening.
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The next day we had a late start and it took about five hours to get to Agra (with a stop at McDonald's and a driver's choice stop at a tourist trap, where he likely received a kickback for bringing us to the amazingly overpriced place... I was going to buy pringles and some cookies... the guy wanted over $10... I just shoved them back, counter-offered... he said no and I walked away.
By the way, if you visit India, have a driver, and go shopping, he will take you to shops where he gets a kickback. It is most likely inevitable even if you try to tell him not to. This driver did it, our Taj Mahal guide did it, and our regular driver in Mumbai did it.
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Upon reaching Agra, we checked into the Taj View Hotel and we got a room with a great view of Agra and the Taj Mahal. We then set out for the Taj.
I was surprised that the Taj Mahal is surrounded by buildings on the east and the south (to the north is the Yamuna river.)
We entered through
the eastern gate (after a short ride on the electric vehicles from the parking lot). The area inside is spacious and leads to the gateway to the Taj Mahal. The gateway perfectly frames the Taj Mahal and makes for a quite amazing first look of the Taj. Seeing the Taj Mahal in person was surreal. It is so well built and balanced... as are the mirrored buildings (a mosque and a "guesthouse"... one building faces Mecca but the other doesn't). Everything there is symmetrical.
Up close the Taj is even more amazing. It has calligraphy of Koran scriptures made with inlaid jasper in the marble and go around the entrance and on other sides. There is also inlaid semiprecious stones making out flowers and other designs abundantly in the interior. The craftsmanship and detail are amazing... the Wikipedia link here has some photos of it close up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal
We walked around for awhile and took lots of photos while our guide showed us around.
The Taj Mahal is one massive tomb for Shah Jahan's most favored wife of the three, Arjumand Banu Begum (aka "Mumtaz Mahal"). He also had numerous concubines and dancing girls. After she died
giving birth to their 14th child in 19 years of marriage, Shah Jahan decided to build the Taj Mahal.
The Taj is amazing, though, as far as I understand, it was built with public money; while kings were erecting grand, extravagant palaces, forts, and other extravagant buildings all over the area, the rest of the world was going through the industrial revolution. Hence, India fell well behind the Western world in development. They are still catching up (though, at a very fast pace at the moment, as they are investing in infrastructure and seem to not be able to build fast enough to keep up with growth).
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We then went to Agra Fort (a World Heritage Site). It is massive. It is very grand. It was once decked out in gold and gems until the British (and, I think, some other people, I think the Iranians, before them) stripped it all out. It is also where Shah Jahan (Shah Jahan means "Ruler of the World" and was the guy who had the Taj built) spent the last seven years of his life under house arrest by his son (who executed his brother and took over during
his father's illness). Lovely.
At any rate, it was a mixing pot (for a time) of religions, with Jewish, Islamic, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist symbols on some of its walls; I think a Mughal emperor (Akbar the Great?) was very religiously tolerant, started his own cult religion, and encouraged religious debate.
It has been taken over by numerous groups, as many other forts around the world.
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The next day we took another tour around the Taj. On the electric car ride there the driver wanted four times what we had to pay with the guide the day before. I balked and got out of the car. He then agreed, but when we came out of the Taj he wanted what we agreed to each way. So I said no and started walking. One of his peers then said okay and brought us back, but then him and our driver were arguing, then yelling and threatening (all in Hindi or another language), and then they started slapping and hitting each other in a full fight.
We then got in another electric car to get out of Dodge.
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Overall, it was a great
trip and lots of details have been left out. In the end, the beauty and majesty will remain in memory and most else will be mental footnotes or forgotten. It is not an easy trip and if I had to go again I would probably backpack, look disheveled, and take the train. That might blunt some of the craziness. I've never felt like such a target before, but I never felt in danger... they just wanted what was in my pockets; actually, I never really felt in danger anywhere in India... it just doesn't seem very dangerous (for a male anyway). But they are very, very persistent and try all sorts of creative ways to try to get people to part with cash.
Then it was back to Bombay for another week of work until I could find relief, at Pench National Park, from both the city and a heavy workload.
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Augusta
non-member comment
India
Ah, the post I've been eagerly anticipating. Very beautiful pictures--the Taj Mahal looks spectacular. Although, I must admit that some of the pictures are so awesome that they almost look fake; like one of those fake backdrops of world tourist sites. SURE, here's Henry in front of the Taj Mahal.....are you sure you actually went there? The Agra fort was pretty impressive, too. Not sure why you would need BOTH crocodiles AND lions to keep people out. My guess it that it was a pretty effective deterent.