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Published: June 17th 2013
Goodbye Delhi, hello Agra. We left the National Capital Territory and headed for the state of Uttar Pradesh. We were lucky to travel along India’s newest highway the Yamuna Expressway. Opened only 8 months ago, this road provides a link between Delhi and Agra at a speed of 100km/hr. Along the drive we were an agricultural area and the local industry of brick making, a pollution intensive industry.
Upon arrival in Agra, we once again reentered chaos. The roads are a hodgepodge of cars, motorcycles, bicycles, oxen and people carting various loads in every imaginable way. We met our new guide (whose name we never quite got) at the entrance to the Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Dualah. Also known as the “Baby Taj”, it is similar in design (built before the Taj Mahal), but smaller in scope and materials than its more famous neighbor. The Tomb is built primarily of red sandstone with inlaid marble accents and lattice screens. It was built by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s queen to honor her parents.
Our next site was the Agra Fort, a massive complex built in 1565 by the great Mughal Emperor, Akbar. This extremely fortified city (2 moats, 2 walls, with too
numerous to count stations for soldiers), was an impressive site as you imagined life here almost 500 years ago. In this fort the Shah Jahn (The Emperor who built the Taj Mahal), was imprisoned by his son, for squandering state funds on his lavish monument. During our visit, the skies opened up and the rain poured down. While taking cover from the sudden downpour, we sat for almost and hour with our new guide. We learned about his Muslim family and Indian traditions; Marriage, work, family and living arrangements (arranged with a substantial dowry provided by the bride’s family, 9 of his family members are guides, his brother just got married, so his marriage will wait for a few years and his extended patriarchal family all lives together in one home).
We checked into our hotel, The Gateway Taj, to dry off, and rest before continuing on to the star attraction. Fortunately for us, our room has a direct view of the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately for us, it was raining so hard our view was obscured.
Freshly dried off, we headed off to India’s star attraction, its Crown Palace (literally), the Taj Mahal. Getting into the complex was
Welcome to the Taj (okay goodbye)
Our wet drummers greet us after our visit to the Tajan adventure itself. No cars are allowed in the nearby vicinity. So our driver dropped us near a horse drawn rickshaw where we trotted off down another busy street. We pushed our way through the crowds (it was REALLY packed). We learned the polite American style of waiting your turn, gets you nowhere in India. If you want to make forward progress, you must put your head down and assert yourself through the crowd.
Lucky for us, the skies had cleared slightly, allowing us to view the Taj Mahal without rain pouring down. Although designed to view against a bright blue sky, we saw it was stunning as well against a charcoal grey backdrop. Going on a Sunday was unfortunate, as the throngs of people, interfered with the view and made standing and admiring this magnificent mausoleum difficult.
From a distance, the gleaming white marble, stunning symmetry and fine lattice work were beautiful to admire. Up close, the intricacies of the marble lattice were even more impressive and the inlaid marble work with multiple semi precious stones (more on that later) was gorgeous.
Upon leaving the center of the monument with the tombs of the Shah Jahan
Marble artisans
Hand cutting pieces of colored stones for inlaid marble work. and his Queen, the skies once again opened up and we were drenched through and through. Although the cooling rain felt good, we were concerned for our camera and cell phone’s safety. We took cover as soon as we could under a covered walkway along with hundreds of India families doing the same. We enjoyed people watching and seeing children delighting in playing in the rain. There are many young lovers who come to the Taj as a romantic site. Designed as a monument to the love of his life, the Emperor Shah Jahan built this monument as a testament to his love for his Queen, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth with her 14
th child. They had 6 live births (3 girls and 3 boys) and their one son, murdered the other 2 to insure his place on the throne. (Don’t you wish you were Royal?)
On our trek back to our horse drawn rickshaw, Leo & I laughed at a site I can only imagine you would see in India. In the pouring rain (hence no picture) there was a motorcycle parked under a tree alongside two bored, likely parked as well, oxen. Oh I wish I could have taken a photo. Our guide had arranged for a drummer and horn blower to greet us at the Taj, but timing being what it was, they met us after our visit. Seeing these 2 young men standing in the rain, we felt obliged to get out of the car and dance alongside while the serenaded us with their “music”.
Our day finished with some very expensive shopping at the government run shops for local craftsman making products specific to Agra. We were shown how the beautiful inlaid marble was made. We watched the artisans hand cut the stones for the inlaid designs. We delighted at seeing the translucent quality of this very special artwork. Then we went to an embroidery shop were we view the stunning work again made by local craftsmen. Samples of these products will be on display at our home in a couple of weeks/months.
Today was a memorable, albeit wet day. I hope tomorrow is drier, although much of the day will be spent in a car traveling to our next destination.
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Rahul
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Tajmahal Visit by Maharajas Express
Last month I have a great experience in Agra by visiting Tajmahal with the most luxuries train called maharajas express(Official Train)