Day 37 - The Taj Mahal

Our private transport has taken a big step backwards, in terms of vehicular quality, but it’s still private transport so there’s no complaints here. This morning we left at the civilised hour of 10:30am as we only had a short drive (~4 hrs) to the city of Agra – the location of the famous Taj Mahal. Unfortunately, it was Irene’s turn to come down with the dreaded Delhi Belly. She was up all night and looked tired and drawn this morning. Eric, meanwhile, has made a full recovery and he’s back to his normal, chirpy self. The general consensus is that it was the slice of fresh tomato or the cucumber that she’d had the night before that did Irene in. A word of advice to travelers to India – resist the temptation to eat anything that has not been cooked. It will get you if you don’t.

A short stop on the highway gave us a chance to get a coffee in a really nice, clean little store before we arrived in Agra. Agra is a city of about 2.5 million people and, like any Indian city, it’s hustling and bustling. Our hotel was off the road to the Taj Mahal, just a few kilometres away. I could see the top of the dome from our third floor window. We were the first Intrepid guests at this place and, if the Intrepid management take heed of our feedback, we’ll be the last. It’s the worst one we’ve had on either tour. Talk about going from chocolates (Abnaheri) to boiled lollies (Agra)! Anyway, it’s just for one night.

Our visit to the Taj Mahal might normally have been tomorrow morning but, beware Indian travelers, the Taj Mahal is not open on Fridays, so this afternoon it was. They say it looks better when the morning sun, rather than the afternoon sun, shines on it but we’ll take what we can get. We picked up our guide in our private vehicle and proceed to the monument. Travelers be aware that only cash is accepted at the ticket office, your card will not be accepted, so a stop at an ATM preceded our entry.

Entering through the East Gate of the perimeter wall that surrounds the complex one finds another huge entry gate, whose name I can’t recall. That structure would impress anywhere else all by itself! Passing through the gate one catches one’s first glimpse of the building in the distance. It is a breathtaking sight – the white marble shining brilliantly on the perfect sunny afternoon we were blessed with. Briefly, the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built by Emperor Shah Jahan in the mid 17th century. It was the dying wish of his third wife that he build something so that the world could understand how much they loved each other. The Taj Mahal took 20,000 workers and craftsmen 22 years to build at an astronomical cost. To ensure that those people and the chief architect would never be tempted to try to build anything that might rival it, the Emperor paid them well enough so that they would never have to work at their craft again, for the rest of their lives.

The thing I like about the Taj Mahal is that it was built in the Persian style which demands perfect symmetry, which really appeals to me. Everything about the construction of the mausoleum and the gardens in which it sits are perfectly symmetrical. The gardens are designed to represent the closest thing to heaven on earth. We walked around the gardens with our guide as he explained the history of its design and construction. It’s impossible to not have one’s eye continuously drawn towards the Taj while walking through the gardens. We had a perfect blue sky and warm weather all afternoon. Our ticket included entry into the mausoleum so we slowly made our way there. Security restrictions are very tight so we were only allowed to bring in a camera, a water bottle (provided by the venue), a phone and any medicines we might need.

The interior of the Taj Mahal is very understated and much smaller than the exterior. Having donned our shoe protection we joined the line view the only items in there – the grave of the Shah and the grave if his beloved wife. The wife’s coffin is in the exact centre of the whole complex (adhering to the rules of symmetry) while the Shah’s is off to the left-side. There is nothing on the right, thereby ensuring that there is an element of asymmetry in the complex, required because only heaven is perfect. We completed the circuit around the graves, admiring the marble and the inlay-ed jewels therein. Most of the jewels, like at just about every monument in India, had been stripped of it’s jeweled opulence by the armies who had invaded over the centuries.

Kerry and I sat at the edge of one of the gardens to wait for the sun to set on the Taj. After 45 minutes the sun was almost below the horizon so we started to wander back to the agreed meeting place outside the complex. We met the group and then took our bus to a nearby restaurant for dinner at a rooftop restaurant, unfortunately also being visited by the first serious mosquitoes of the trip. We’ve now visited one of the Seven Wonders of the World and it’s a visit we’ll never forget.