Agra, Taj Mahal and all in the rain!

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Agra, Taj Mahal and all in the rain! What is going on?

The Thomas weather curse strikes. Profuse apologies from the Indians that it is raining today, though it never rains in India in February.....the rain hammers down as we head to the Taj Mahal in darkness at 6am. We get to the East Gate to find there is a power cut in the ticket office. Fortunately it is restored and armed with tickets we set off on the short walk to the actual East Gate entrance to the Taj Mahal precincts. Annoyingly there is a massive queue for the foreigners who have paid 750 rupees and none for the Indians who have paid 25 rupees.

Security negotiated past the men with machine guns and we are in the gardens before the main gateway to the garden which is itself a magnificent octagonal structure in red sandstone faced in black and white marble inlay.

The usual first breathtaking view of the Mausoleum is spoilt by the drizzle and the grey background of the sky against which the Taj seems to dissolve in the thin mist. The scaffolding on three of the four flanking minarets does not help. Anyway, we are here so we set off on the long walk to the Mausoleum, eschewing the naff “Princess Di” photo on the stone bench. Some Americans have chosen to talk a selfie using their offensive selfie stick on a bench 200 yards short of the real thing while declaring this is where “that Princess sat looking sad”. Idiots....

Meanwhile, sheltering from the rain in a corner of the Taj is a granny in a sari topped off with a black puffa jacket inscribed on the back with the words ‘Born to kill’ above a picture of a skull. Really?

To the side of the Taj we were disturbed by a sound of crashing, which came from a troop of monkeys who were fighting each other, scrambling up and down the scaffolding and knocking over everything in sight. Fun to watch, but best avoided as they can carry rabies and looked to have very sharp teeth!

The Mausoleum, to recount the story, was built by Emperor Shan Jehan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631 giving birth to his fourteenth child. The cost of the structure commissioned by the pining Emperor nearly bankrupted the Mughals. The finest craftsmen were brought from Persia, Italy and countries far and wide to use the finest materials to build the Taj.

Even this, the finest monument in India, is suffering the ravages of pollution and general degradation. What looks perfect from a distance reveals cracks and damage when you get up close. Upkeep is a continual battle.

We return eventually to the hotel for a rest and then off to the Red Fort, where the sky continues to be grey and the rain falls intermittently. A guide offers his services. “No thank you” Sara says pleasantly. “But madam you cannot possibly know what is about the fort without a guide”. He has gone too far. Sara fixes him with The Stare. “We have been here before and my husband is a student of Indian history. Now go away”. That does the trick.

The Red Fort was for many centuries the capital of first the Lodhi sultans who ruled India before being defeated by the first Mughal Emperor Babur in 1526, and then of the Mughals themselves. The present defensive walls were built by Akbar during his reign (1556 to 1605) and the later white marble buildings were added later by Jehangir and Shah Jehan. Shan Jehan was overthrown by his son, the pious and austere Aurangzeb in 1658 and he was then imprisoned in the Fort until his death in 1666. The buildings are impressive and in a good state of repair, though unfortunately a large part of the fort cannot be seen as it is an army barracks. Why? Could they not keep the troops somewhere else?

A break over lunch and we drive to the Tomb of Itamad ud Daula, the tomb of the father of Nur Jahan who was the wife of Emperor Jehangir. It is a beautiful but small white marble structure with exquisite inlay work outside and delicate wall paintings of fruit and flower motifs within. All lovingly restored and maintained. Some particularly ignorant East India Company cavalry officers had done their bit for culturual appreciation in the 18^th century when they decided to use the tomb as a stable and painted over the wall paintings with whitewash. We all make mistakes I suppose.

Next stop is the Metab Bagh, a massive garden on the opposite bank of the Yamuna to the Taj, laid out by Shah Jehan so he could view the Taj. It is slowly being replanted to bring it back to its former glory.

Then on to the Chini Ka Rausa, a monument David had read about, a tomb built for the Persian born prime minister of Shah Jehan (Persians were very popular in Mughal India as they were seen as cultured and educated, despite being Shia Muslims rather than Sunni as the Mughals were. Persian was also the courtly language of the Mughals and their nobles). The mausoleum is in the middle of a market garden, no one goes there and there is a grizzled retainer who shows you round for a few rupees. There is beautiful blue tile inlay on the outside, and exquisite inlay work inside in the course of restoration. A hidden gem and the sort of thing we love finding in India.



Dinner at the Marriott. We were expecting to quietly enjoy the Indian buffet which looked very promising. Chef Ricky himself appeared and showed us this creations. We started with a selection of Indian street food, refined for fine dining and had just moved on to the main course when the Hordes of Nippon appear. 150 of them in one tour group. They have apparently refused to be told what any of the food is and determinedly set about the buffet adding to one plate whatever they fancy. Two elderly Japanese dressed in full trekking kit and face masks plonk themselves down on our table without so much as a by your leave. David is tempted to say “piss off” but instead gives them a polite “good evening” in his poshest English which gains no response. They have brought their own flask of drink and return from the buffet with a plate of, well, everything. We particularly admired the naan bread sandwich filled with noodles with the obvious accompaniment of mango ice cream and chocolate cake. Madam has salad, bread rolls, curried mushrooms and papaya on her plate and possibly some soup poured over for good measure. A young Japanese couple behind us who are clearly better travelled are pissing themselves with amusement at the antics of their countrymen. And where did the twenty Buddhist monks come from?? The Indian staff keep coming over to us to tell us what further combinations the tour party are eating. Ricky the chef tells us that the tour leader had earlier presented the chefs with a supply of noodles and sachets of flavouring, with precise instructions on how to cook them. Absolutely hilarious.



See below for more pictures.

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Comments

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Sayonara Agra
What a pity about the unusually inclement weather at the Taj but pleased that the Japanese group brought the sunshine back to your faces!