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Published: March 27th 2024
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I’ve gone with the word awesome (one of my favourites) to describe Agra but it’s more my description of the Taj Mahal, than the town itself. The Taj did not disappoint. It is truly awe inspiring. It’s gorgeous from a distance and also up close. But first to our journey…….
On the way from Jaipur to Agra we visited yet another fort called Fatehpur Sikri, but much like all the others it was impressive. It was built by a chap called Akbar and he had separate quarters for his three wives. For his Muslim wife he built a small room, for his Christian wife he built a wing of the palace, but for his Hindu wife who gave him an heir he built a whole entire palace!
Onwards to Agra where we were greeted by a cross between Las Vegas and India. Agra is a tourist town and I suspect 99% of visitors come to see the Taj Mahal and then move one. The main ‘tourist’ avenue is brightly lit with lots of neon lights and shops like Nike and KFC! Our hotel was full of fellow tourists from countries Iike Denmark, Japan and Ireland, which was a change
from sharing with domestic tourists and the odd foreigner.
The other star attraction for our visit to Agra was the Holi festival, an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the Spring season.
Our Holi celebrations included a visit to a local bonfire ceremony called the Holika Dahan and the following day dressing in white pajamas and throwing colours (powders and sprays) at each other. It was kind of fun, but also a bit overrated. I enjoyed the local bonfire so much more.
Our guide Kamal is an Agra local and he graciously invited us all to observe the bonfire ceremony in his neighbourhood. In short, there is a large bonfire lit and people (I think it’s a man’s job) go to bonfire and Iight a dried cowpat (looks and smells better than it sounds) that’s attached to the end of a stick. They then take the ‘fire’ and light their own fire at home. The best part for us was the whole village of people singing and chanting and inviting us to join in. It was an honour to be part of it.
Conversely our ‘colour’ throwing felt more Iike a tourist activity. It also involved loads
of preparation with special oil in my hair, coconut oil for my skin (throwback to my teenage years) and nail polish. This was all in an effort to avoid staining my hair, skin and nails with the bright colours which for the most part worked. It was kind of fun but I’m not sure the preparation and the scrubbing after was justified by the work.
My first glimpse of the beautiful Taj was an early morning yoga class led by an enthusiastic Indian man in a tracksuit. Not quite the yogic experience I was expecting, but fun nonetheless. And who could fault the view!
Our first proper look at the magnificent structure we had all come to see was from across the river from a beautiful park in the late afternoon. Wow Wow Wow.
This was followed by an early morning visit the next day to view it up close which was amazing! Although it was crawling with tourists even at 6.30 am, it was still awesome.
After the Taj we detoured to the Agra Fort which, while impressive was nothing on the Taj! I also suspect I’m a bit fatigued. Thankfully that was the last
fort for this trip.
Onwards to Delhi to transit to Varanasi, the last stop on this journey.
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