Agra Day 2

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This morning I got up before dawn and was taken to the Taj Mahal to watch the sunrise. It was spectacular. The moon was (almost) full, so it was setting in the west as the sun rose in the east. I walked all around the building and we went inside, too, to see the graves. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj as a tomb and a monument to his wife Mumtaz Mahal after she died in childbirth. Husband and wife are both buried there. The tomb building and dome are symmetrical and pleasing to the eye, but the detail work on the walls is also remarkable. I think I mentioned the stone inlay work, but there are also masterfully carved reliefs and gorgeously intricate screens. I took many photos outside - no photos are allowed inside - but they don’t do justice to the sensation of being there as the white jewel box of a building glows and changes color with the rising sun. I returned to the hotel and (finally) ate breakfast. I was hungry! Then I checked out of the hotel and we drove west to Fatehpur Skiri to see the palace that was, at one time, the capital of the Mughal empire under Akbar the Great. It is made almost entirely of red sandstone and lacks the, shall we say, refinement of white marble, but it is still an impressive collection buildings. From there we drove on westward to the city of Jaipur, called The Pink City. I’ll tell you more about it after I tour it tomorrow.

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