“Taj Mahal!”
We were dropped off outside the gates to the Taj Mahal (you can’t see it from the street) and walked in for about a kilometre. We found there were two lines, one for men, one for women. The line for men was hundreds of people long and the women’s line? About four people. Mo and I went inside and waited, we didn’t want to walk around – we were afraid to catch a glimpse without Jeff. He made it in (bribed his way to the front of the line. How “Jeff” of him) and we headed in.
Really, what can you say about the Taj Mahal? It’s stunning.
We’ve all seen so many pictures, but they cannot do it justice. It seems to glow. It’s so amazingly huge, much bigger than I expected.
The crowds there are also huge. Obviously, the Taj Mahal is a major tourist attraction and there are plenty of people there, constantly. The biggest crowd could be found crowded around a bench they call the “Lady Diana” bench because of the famous picture taken there.
We sat for quite a while just soaking in the experience. It is definitely one of those places where all you can think is “wow…I’m here…”
After a while sitting there (and getting a history lesson from a guide), we headed up the stairs to the main part of the Taj. There is a great deal of detail work in the marble:
carved sections of flowers
I liked this section of inlay because it’s the only one I could see where the leaves were turquoise and not green
Inside is the cenotaph which is actually a false tomb. The real tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and his wife Shah Janan, are beneath the floor in a private chamber. There is a section of floor roped off above them, as the Muslim religion prohibits anyone from walking over the dead.
The false tomb is spectacular. The inlay work is amazing. Intricate flowers of every type: irises, lotus flowers, and many others cover a carved marble screen, which is also covered in semi-precious stones. Inside the screen are replicas of the caskets for Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Janan – also very beautiful (and tiny!)
I would have taken pictures but signage that told me photos were prohibited. It is extremely crowded inside the cenotaph – people pushing and shoving and flashes flashing (I stuck my hand in front of one guy’s camera – have some respect, dude) We all almost came to blows just trying to get out the door, where hundreds of others were trying to get in.
Out behind the Taj is an empty field, just beyond the river. Apparently Mumtaz Mahal had intended on building a second Taj Mahal there, this one in black, to house his own tomb. But he was imprisoned by his own son in the nearby Agra Fort and never even begun work on the black Taj Mahal.
As we were leaving, our view was much like this:
(Only there wasn’t quite as many people while we were leaving). Our guide told us if we walked backwards, the Taj would seem to grow inside the frame of the archway.
guide: look – do you see the Taj Mahal?
jeff and me: <at the same time> Where???
Such smartasses.
I didn’t take as many pictures as one might expect, you realize you cannot capture the feeling of being there, however, there are a few more photos in the Taj Mahal photo set
Definitely a major highlight of the trip.
