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Published: January 16th 2011
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Kuldeep’s poker face finally broke after five hours on the road as the tut-tuk clipped our rear bumper on the outskirts of Agra. He leapt from our car as if intent on murder and well, if looks could kill then we’d have all been in trouble …
The highway from Delhi to Agra must be one of India’s best-maintained and most-used roads but that didn’t mean that was all BMWs and businessmen. Carts pulled by tractors, horses, cows and camels shared the road with buses, huge brightly-painted lorries, mopeds, handcarts, cycle-rickshaws and tuk-tuks spilling over with whole extended families out for their Saturday shop. More often than not all vehicles moved in the same direction, albeit at hugely different speeds, although this didn’t tend to be the case in towns and villages where we seemed destined to cut a family shopping trip abruptly short. Kuldeep weaved his way in and out of traffic and, at times, seemed to use the newness of his Toyota to challenge anyone to get too close to him. When they did he would simply stare them down with a look of utter contempt! I was just glad that I wasn’t driving and that Diana, known at
times for the odd ‘back-seat’ comment was actually there, far enough away to miss much of the knuckle-whitening action. Every time the car was forced to come to a halt, much to Kuldeep’s chagrin, we were beset by tiny, filthy girls turning flip-flaps, performing monkeys and their owners, young mothers (with babes in sling) trying to sell their carnations … and we are finding it increasingly wearing to have to keep on saying ‘No, thank you…’ and to avoid eye contact in case it gives encouragement.
Off the tarmac and away from the potholes, the countryside is exceptionally flat throughout the region of Utar Pradesh through which we travelled; huge fields of wheat and mustard, with the odd thatched mud-hut and roadside party venue and snackbar to break up the monotony. The outskirts of Delhi feature a number of huge glazed shopping malls, with aspirational names like Big Life, still fronted by the ramshackle stalls selling motorcycle helmets, phone-chargers and innertubes and the verges, still smouldering from last night’s charcoal fires and covered in piles and piles of accumulated rubbish. Families find all sorts of cover (water towers, overpasses, railway bridges etc) under which to set up their tarpaulin houses
and everywhere the dust is so thick that brand new trains and roads (including one opened just yesterday!) are indistinguishable from the old. As we have started to find, it also sticks to the inside of noses and throats … In the distance, huge power stations and steel-mills give some hint of the scale of the pollution problem facing India.
Despite Kuldeep’s best efforts we arrived in Agra somewhat later than planned and were almost immediately whisked off on our tour of the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal. The Mughal Emperor, Shah Jehan so loved his Muslim wife, Mumtaj, that he spent 30,000,000 rupees and used 120,000 men for 22 years to construct the most beautiful symbol of his love for her, the 80-m high, crystalline marble and jewel encrusted mausoleum of the Taj Mahal. History seems to ignore the fact that he had another two wives, and a harem of hundreds of concubines when describing the strength of this love … Our first view of this iconic landmark came from the battlements of Agra Fort, stronghold of the line of Mughal Emperors; Akbar the Great, Jehangir, his son, and Shah Jehan, his grandson. This huge fortress constructed predominately
from red sandstone is a fine example of Hindu-Islamic architecture, blending geometric patterns with themes from nature such as lotus flower petals and the curves of an elephant’s trunk. Our guide was very informative of what life at court would have been like and set the scene for us; curtains blowing in the gentle breeze blowing off the river, marble niches full of lanterns, burning incense and candles and the natural music made by all of the fountains. He seemed almost wistful as he spoke with a detailed understanding and deep interest in the operation of the harem! The opulence and the scale of the buildings was impressive and set the scene well for our visit to Mumtaj’s memorial. We opted to approach by horse and cart as there is an exclusion zone for vehicles around the building to try and reduce the effects of pollution on the gleaming marble. We faced stricter security here than we had in entering the country and my camera tripod and remote control were deemed to be items of potential threat! Donning our red overshoes we approached the memorial as millions have done before and suddenly through an archway there it was. Its shape,
symmetry, colour, the approach via walkways, waterways and avenues of narrow trees – I am sure that you can picture it now and, despite the thousands in the foreground, it still made for a very impressive sight. Twenty thousand visitors a day means there are always crowds here, unless you are Princess Diana, and it took me a bit of time to overcome my disappointment at all the jostling and shot-stealing that went on. We did eventually find some space and some time away from the masses, as the sun started to set, for some photographs.
Running the gauntlet of postcard-sellers, trinket and marble merchants and beggars on leaving the compound we returned to the hotel exhausted but with our heads full of stories of emperors bathing in the moonlight, in jewel-encrusted pools, with groups of beautiful concubines. Should make for some interesting dreams …
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Sam Farid
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Tejo mahal
That was well spotted!There is a theory that the Taj mahal was actually a Hindu temple which was converted bu Shah Jahan and your photo proves it all ! (source Wikipedia)