To Agra and the Taj Mahal

This blog posting is dedicated to our dear friend Velma Dobson who left this life on April 9, 2010.

March 14, 2010

Rowan's Birthday!

We sprang out of bed in the dark at the ridiculous hour of 3:30am so we could get to the train station to catch our 5am train (due east) to Agra, Uttar Pradesh. This will be the first time Rowan and I have taken the train by ourselves without the guidance of Shrikant & Charanya. We have been well trained by them on how to maneuver our way around and through the stations and understand how to find our train on the crazy schedule board, so we are confident we will get where we are supposed to be going. This will also be our first daytime journey on a train, so we are looking forward to seeing the landscape (between our naps) as it passes by. Thank goodness for the chai tea guy that eventually came through the train serving the little pots of deliciousness from a tin kettle. Helped me stay awake for some of the sights.

The journey took us about 5 hours. We left the desert landscape and passed through miles of farmland covered with wheat, corn, millet, lentils and sesame, and a few mountains along the way. Once we reached Agra we immediately hopped on an auto-rickshaw to get to our hotel so we could change our clothes, get something to eat and head to the Taj Mahal, the main reason for our visit here. Our hotel doorman arranged for an auto-rickshaw to take us to the Taj. Our auto driver Lucky, yes that is his name, is a very handsome young man who immediately began to tell us why we needed to make him our guide for the day, and so we did. He took us on a whirlwind ride through the very twisted streets of Agra. The old city is a place that not just anyone can find their way through. The streets are more like alleyways. An auto-rickshaw just barely fits down the alleys. If one meets a motorcycle, someone has to pull into a doorway so the other can pass. It was a CRAZY drive through this labyrinth-like city. We felt like we were in a Raiders of the Lost Arc movie – men in turbans, vegetable carts, cows and other animals, street vendors, all sharing the little alleyways with us.

The excitement intensified, as we got closer to the Taj Mahal. The anticipation of seeing one of the most famous wonders of the world was something special on this very special day, Rowan’s Birthday! Lucky dropped us off at the east gate and we arranged a time to meet him just before sunset so he could drive us across the Jamuna river to see the Taj from that direction as the sun sets.

A brief history of the Taj Mahal:

The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in commemoration of his favorite wife, Empress Mumtaz Mahal (Jewel of the Palace), after her death while giving birth to their 14^th child in 1631. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death and took over 20 years to complete. The grief-stricken emperor made all efforts in building the tomb in her memory, which is universally acknowledged as one of the most beautiful creations on earth. After his death in 1666, Shah Jahan was also buried beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan’s grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.

Artisans were requisitioned from all over the empire including Central Asia and Iran. While bricks for the interior framework were made locally, white marble for external surfaces was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan. The inscription on the northern façade records 1647 as the date of completion. The plan of the Taj displays strict bilateral symmetry. The Taj is exactly as wide as it is high. The color of the translucent marble keeps changing from dawn to midnight giving it a magical aura in keeping with Shah Jahan’s vision that the tomb and garden represent paradise on earth. It is a unique man-made manifestation of the glorious Mughal (Muslim rulers of India) age and a wonder of the world.

Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here, like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin. Should a sinner make his way to this mansion, all his past sins are to be washed away. The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs; and the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made, to display thereby the creator’s glory.

Rowan and I set off through the east gate of the complex. The outer three entrances are bound by huge red sandstone walls, with the river-facing side left open. There are various other mausoleums throughout the grounds. You cannot see the Taj yet as you enter the complex.

The East Gate

As you approach the main gateway you get your first glimpse of the Taj. I cannot tell you how at that moment, your breath is taken away from you. You can’t even see the whole thing, and you still can’t breathe! The beauty! The perfection! The purity! The passion! The poetry! I’m not sure there are really any words in the English language that can describe what the eyes behold! Nothing can really prepare you for the beauty of what you are seeing. Here are the photos:

The Main Gateway

Our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal. It is like walking into the white light as you enter through the archway.

This is the view you instantly get when you come through the main entrance archway. We were so taken in by the magnificent beauty of what we were seeing, we just stood here speechless for almost 30 minutes. Quite an emotional experience. The sheer scale of the building as we approached was something seeing only photos cannot prepare you for.

Once we decided to move from the main entrance, we made our way towards the monument. It was again 100+ degrees today, so we knew the faster we could get to the cool white marble structure the better.

As we approached the stairs at the outside wall, we had to remove our shoes as one usually does when entering a holy place in this country. The sea of shoes at this point was quite a sight. I was so moved by what we were about to see, I forgot to get a picture of the shoes. Sorry! Once our shoes were off, we couldn't wait to get up to the cool white marble of the Taj.

You can see here how enormous the marble pishtaq (side archways) are compared to Rowan in the foreground (and this is one of the small archways).

The calligraphy that frames the main iwan (entrance archway) is from the Qur'an written in the thuluth script (there are many versus from the Qur'an in various places around the tomb). The writing is made of jasper and black marble, inlaid into the white marble panels. The inscription reads "O soul, thou are at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you". The entire structure is covered with inlaid flowers and vines.

A small example of the inlay work on the outside of the structure.

The lower walls of the outer tomb area are decorated with carved depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasize the exquisite detailing of the carvings. The inlay stones are yellow marble, jasper and jade.

As we entered the cenothaph (tomb) area we had not idea what to expect as the famous images we have seen of the Taj have all been of the outside. At the entrance, there was a huge sign saying "NO PHOTOGRAPHY', so you can image I was just a little disappointed as I was putting my camera away, but then pleasantly surprised when I noticed that every person inside was snapping photos. Another example of 'when in India, do as the Indians do'! Pretty hard to control the masses when they all break the rules. Here are photos from inside where the emperor and the Mrs. are at rest.

As we exited out the back side of the Taj we noticed the cutest group of Japanese women sitting on the wall. I couldn't resist taking a picture of them in their booties as they sat there in the shade smiling (there is an option to wear booties if you don't want to leave your shoes in the 'sea of shoes' on the main level). This is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip.

Rowan and I decided to spend an hour walking around the beautiful gardens and grounds of the Taj complex before we headed off to the other side of the river for sunset. We figured this would give us some time to absorb the wonder and romance the Taj represents.

This the the 'sea of shoes' area. The closest I got to accidentally getting a picture of it.

The sun was starting to get low in the sky, so we went off to meet Lucky outside the complex at the spot we arranged. He was right there with his auto-rickshaw to scoop us up and head in the direction of the river. He took us on a wild ride back through the old town area with its twisted little streets. At times we had to cover our noses as the smell of the open sewer running along the streets was overpowering. It reminds us that this is still a country emerging out of its third world status. We got to the bridge and held on to each other as we crossed. The thing was so old we could see water at times through the cracked blacktop. Again, there was enough room for only about a car and a half to pass on the bridge (thank god we are the 1//2 in our auto-rickshaw!). And to think, we will have to come back this way too! Once on the other side we passed through the largest shanty town we have seen yet and then continued on to the park where we will walk out to the river to see the Taj in the sunset. As soon as we arrived, Lucky was anxious to take some pictures of us with World Wonder in the background.

Here is a little magic Lucky organized to take this picture of us touching the finial on the dome.

I love the contrast in this photo of one of the seven wonders of the world in the background and then the everyday life example of the child, with a stack of sticks on her head, passing by with her heard of goats right in front of us. It's impossible to miss the Taj Mahal, but an easy thing for most folks to look right on by this child as life goes on outside of the main attraction.

Our last shot was this movie Rowan took just before the sun went down.

Our thoughts during our drive back to the hotel were all about how very lucky we are to have been able to come here and see this magnificent sight. We immediately tried to come up with words on how we were going to describe all of this to all of you. We have made our best try here, but if you really want to know whats it's like to stand in front of the Taj Mahal, you just simply need to make the trip and see it with your own eyes.

Lucky dropped us at our hotel after dark and we paid him 600 rupees ($10 US) for being our guide and taxi all day. We also arranged with him to come and get us at 4am tomorrow morning so we can catch our 5am train back to Jaipur where we will then catch a flight back to Hyderabad. UGH! We decided Lucky is a perfect name for him, as we are very lucky to have found such a great driver.

We fell back into our hotel room exhausted after such a big day but we couldn't go to sleep until we had a birthday beer to celebrate Rowan's special day. We ordered up a 'Royal Challenge' beer, made in India, and had a toast to one of the most wonderful women on this planet! Cheers! :o)


Stay tuned as there is still a bit more to share with you...................