Agra, India
23° 55' N 77° 33' E
Oct 04, 2009 04:50
Distance 577km

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The Moghuls & The Magnificent Taj Mahal

After a very long overnight train journey of 17 hours - peppered with slight annoyances of people bribing the ticket officer and taking up booths allocated to other persons, using the argument that 'the train is government asset and therefore to be used by all Indians' to ancient old persons too old to use any birth but the bottom ones and snoring loudly all night - we arrived in Agra.  The Monsoon weather had not abated, but the water was warm and it was still great respite from the heat of Nepal.

We arrived in Agra about 6:30am and donated Kirsten's dinner of momos and rice (like dumplings)to a family of beggars who were asleep at the station.  There hasn't been too much of this around in India, so far, and my actual impressions of India being overrun with people were a bit far fetched. It's very similar to alot of other third world countries actually.  In fact Agra itself is quite a decent city and even has lane markings on the roads and footpaths.  We also noticed that there aren't too many cows around vs Varanasi - must not be into the Save Mother Cow protests.  They do have a few donkeys in Agra and for some unknown reason paint them pink.  There is a similar symbol to a Swasticker of the Germans which they paint here to represent strength and 'Prosperity in all directions' and today I saw one of these painted in pink on a donkey... (Not something you see everyday.)

 Agra is of course home to India's most famous site - the Majestic Taj Mahal.  However, it has many other interesting sites to visit as well, dating back to the mid-16th and 17th centuries when the last Lodi sultan was defeated by the great Moghul Emperor Babur from Persia (or current day Iran).  The peak of the Moghul dynasty and Agra's magnificence was during the reign of Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan - the 3rd, 4th and 5th Moghul emperors respectively.  Shah Jahan was the Emperor who built the Taj Mahal, but other major mausoleums were also built.

Our first stop was the Agra Fort, as the idea was to see the Taj Mahal later on in the day at sunset.  The fort was pretty spectacular and is one of the finest Mogul forts in India based on the banks of the Yamuna River - its walls are 22 m high and 2.5 m thick!  Made of Red Standstone and White Marble, it was begun by Akbar in 1565 and finally converted to a palace by his Grandson, Shah Jahan in the 1600s.  It later became Shah Jahan's guilded prison when his son, Aurangzeb, imprisoned him for 'extravagant spending from the royal coffers on creating the Taj Mahal' and seized power.  One of the great surprises was the view you can get from Agra Fort of the Taj Mahal, which is built only a few miles away on the bend of the Yamuna River.  It is said that Shah Jahan spent many of his last days staring at the Taj Mahal before he died.   Agra fort is really quite large and each different compartment we walked into led into another, which was more beautiful.  It also included several harems and mosques inside and even a portion of white marbled area with lots of little courtyards and grassed areas.  I was really impressed by this.

Of course, you all want to know about the Taj Mahal visit!  Well I must say, both Kirsten & I agreed that the 17 hour overnight train journey was soooo worth it, just to see the majestic Taj Mahal. 

The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan who was the fifth Moghal ruler of India.  He had three wives and he was married to his third wife for 19 years; whilst bearing his 14th child she died and so he built the Taj Mahal in her memory - hence it is known the world over as 'The monument to love'.  Many Indian couples come to the Taj Mahal on their honeymoons as a 'pilgrimage to love'.  It took 22 years to build with over 20,000 workers per day and commenced in 1631 at a cost in those days of over $400 million dollars, so you can just imagine how magnificent it looks.  Rumour has Shah Jahan was going to commence building a mirror image of the Taj Mahal across the river in black marble, but never got round it it after his son seized power and is now 'touchingly' buried alongside his third wife in the Taj Mahal.  . 
I cannot begin to describe the beauty of the building, with Bill Gates once saying, "There are two types of people - those who have witnessed the Taj Mahal with their own eyes and those that haven't".   Just the construction alone is mind boggling and such beautiful artworks of marble carvings and precious stone inlays.  There is so many semi precious and precious stones inlaid into the actual marble that when you shine a torch on the stones, they sparkle.  The gardens within the courtyard are also beautiful to behold, with what looked like Frangipani trees for a beautiful fragrance.  The actual mausoleum was magnificent and we had to line up for over 30 minutes to get into it.  It was raining when we were there in the afternoon, however the sun did come out briefly at sunset and the lighting was amazing. Taj apparently means 'crown' and 'Mahal' means palace - so in essence, the Taj Mahal is the 'Crown Palace' and certainly reflects its name in its splendour and extravagance. Our tour guide had us doing all these weird and wonderful typical Indian poses and at one stage I'm sure other people thought we were two lesbian lovers.  
All I can say is it was truly amazing - I just wish there had been less people!  One thing's for sure, don't visit the Taj Mahal on a weekend!
The following morning before leaving Agra we decided to visit the Sikandra Mausoleum, where the greatest Moghul Emperor Akbar is buried.  He is well-known for his ability to bring peace and prosperity to the region by being tolerant of different religions - to the point where he married several Hindu princesses as well as Muslims to prove people could still live in harmony while worshipping different gods. Its an outstanding red standstone and marble tomb, with a huge courtyard entered by a stunning gate.  We were the first people there and it was an awesome experience just taking in the vast silence.  There were also animals wandering around the lawns: some deer, black buck, peacocks and of course monkeys.  It was great to compare this mausoleum with the Taj Mahal - this was obviously far less extravagant, but also far more masculine - with straight square lines vs the soft curves of the Taj.  Even the Palm Trees felt masculine, straight and powerful, thrusting up into the sky vs the rounded and fragrant frangipanis at the Taj.
Overall, Agra is definitely a must see venue in India.

Photos / videos of "The Moghuls & The Magnificent Taj Mahal":

Me and Kirsten on the train ride to Agra Me in front of the Agra Fort Entrance to the famous Amar Singh Gate to the south of the fort - it is a dogleg design towards the right designed to confuse attackers who made it past the crocodile infested moat Me in front of the Amar Singh Gate at Agra fort on the drawbridge Example of the beautiful carvings and marble inlays on the entry gate The Agra Fort moat which was previously crocodile infested in its heyday The outer courtyard of Agra Fort The Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) area A large 'bath' carved from a stone - previously would have been used indoors but for some reason placed outside the Hall of Public Audience Detailed example of the Sandstone and white marble carving A doorway to one of the inner courtyards of the fort Me in a doorway off the side of the courtyard Me in the doorway - give and idea of the towering size of the buildings View of the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort on the Yamuna River Zoomed in view of Taj Mahal from Agra Fort View of Taj Mahal through the room of mirrors where you can see the Taj from all angles Me with the Taj in the distance The room of mirrors which looks over the Yamuna river and hence the Taj Mahal The marble turrets built on the 22m high Agra Fort walls with a view of the Yamuna River The Palace gardens where the harem would spend some of their day A Hammam area with cool marble fountain On the outer walls, I place a finger on the top of the Taj Mahal The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience) is like a gorgeous pillared marble area set in a beautifully green and open courtyard The Diwan-i-Khas Marble Pillared beauty 24 View of the Diwan-i-Khas from the gardens MOVIE The space and size of the marble Diwan-i-khas left us profoundly awed Bridegroom on his way to meet his Bride at a pre-party Helping to hold up a giant stone ball Main Entry gate to Taj Mahal with 22 mini turrets - one for each year it took to build the Taj Mahal South Gate Workers Entrance - We entered through the West Entrance which was used for the Emperors and other dignitaries. Main Entry gate to Taj Mahal Front on view main entrance to Taj Mahal Details of the mosaics on the front Gateway - precious stones inlaid to white marble Detail of the Koran scriptures of black marble inlaid to white on the border of the Main Entry gate - the writing at the top is larger than the bottom View of the Taj Mahal from the Entry gateway As you move forwards, so the Taj Mahal appears to become smaller and you see the minarets on either side - EQUALLY if you walk backwards the Taj Mahal appears to get bigger The Taj Mahal in a monsoon - the grey coulds loom but it doesn't keep the crowds away Me in front of the Taj Mahal Me in front of the Taj Mahal Taj Mahal within the beautifully laid out gardens Close up of Taj Mahal with the rainy monsoon clouds View back towards the main entry gate to the Taj Mahal gardens Looking serene in the Taj Mahal gardens with umbrella Me and Kirsten huddle under the umbrella The famous 'Princess Diana' pose in front of the Taj Mahal minus the beautiful blue sky The Mosaic work becomes clearer as we move forward towards the Taj Mahal View of one of the 4 minarets based on the corners of the Mausoleum The statutory required Bollywood pose in front of the 'Monument to love' The classic 'My finger is on the Taj Mahal' pose The mosque based to the left of the Taj Mahal Mausoleum facing West Close up of the Taj Mahal... note the length of the queue which went all the way round the side AND the back of the building Queue of people to enter the Taj Mahal Mausoleum (to the right), the mosque in the background The towering archway to the Mausoleum sanctity More detail of the marble carvings on the Mausoleum with the black marble inlay for the Koran scriptures The sun breaks through the monsoon clouds for a brief period Front on view of the Mosque to the west of the Taj Mahal View of the Yamuna River back towards the Red Fort (obscured by the tower and the hazy rain) Detail of the semi-precious and precious stone inlay above an archway Semi Precious and Precious stones beautifully and meticulously laid into the White Marble of the Taj Mahal Me in front of one of the carved marble panels on the Taj Mahal Me in front of the Taj Mahal after our inner sanctum experience View of the Taj Mahal on the way back to the entrance The 'I'm madly in love' Bollywood pose Me in front of the Taj Mahal - the rain has stopped! MOVIE Young indian boy doing classic dance outside a restaurant Moghul  Emperor Akhbar's Mausoleum at Sikandra, Agra - not the towering minarets and marble inlay into red sandstone Magnificent Entrance gate to Sikandra Mausoleum - the Marble inlay patterns are a magnificent site to behold Close up of one of Sikandara Mausoleums Minarets Close up of colour marble inlays onto red sandstone Further example of inlayed marble work - interestingly Muslims don't depict animals or humans in their frescoes, only plants and geometric patterns The first people to arrive in the morning, the place was deserted.  The stark contrast of straight lines and towering palms made this place feel far more masculine and powerful than the Taj Mahal. Aapji and Mammie Limca make their way to the main Mausoleum building Some of the Black buck and deer in the Akbhar Mausoleum grounds View back towards the main entry gate Me in front of the main Mausoleum building complete with umbrella... monsoon weather continues! Me and Kirsten (Mammie Limca) in the rain - again! Some monkeys exit the Mausoleum space for a morning stroll around the grounds as the rain lets up slightly One of the tombs of a politician buried within the grounds The entrance area to the Mausoleum - Akhbars tomb was down the passage way in the centre of the building in a very bare and standard room, but extremely tall with a magnificent lamp as per the one in this picture. Some of the mosaic patterns in the entry hallway Close up of the lamp hanging from the centre area Some scriptures from the Koran are also inlaid into the marble, as at the Taj Mahal Akhbar's tomb An artistic pose showing the beautiful lattice work carved into the sandstone at the entrance to the mausoleum ... that's me of course! One more Bollywood pose just for luck! Egrets and deer outside in the grounds around the Mausoleum Peacocks strutting in the grounds - tried to make a sound like an interested Peahen to get them to try and seduce me, but obviously didn't work! On our way to the exit...
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