I left Delhi on Friday morning for Agra, a five hour drive south, to see the Taj Mahal. The drive was not too bad, as I had some music, and taking in the Indian countryside was very interesting (not like the five hour drive from Ottawa to Cambridge :P). We stopped at a hotel for lunch, and they had awesome chicken tikka masala (yay! first meat in five days!). We got to our hotel in the early evening when it began to rain, so we didn’t get to go out that night. I was excited for the hotel though, as I thought I would be able to have a nice long hot shower, but alas, I was fooled by the niceness. The hot water was only warm, and I couldn’t turn the cold water on or else it would be cold. As a result, the warm water simply came out in dribs and drabs. The warm was constant though, so I was able to condition my hair! Yay! We had dinner in the hotel restaurant (I had a lamb rogan josh! Really yummy) and then we got up early to go see the Taj Mahal.
I have to say, seeing the Taj Mahal in person is worth the trip alone to India. It’s truly an amazing piece of architecture, and I’m glad I got to see it!! It was built in 1631, commissioned by Shah Jahan (same guy who constructed the Red Fort!) as a mausoleum dedicated to his third wife Mumtaz, who died while giving birth to their 14 child!! It took 22 years to build by 20,000 labourers working day and night. They did everything by hand, including cutting all the marble and all the in-laid stone work. It is a piece of art, how everything is symmetrical and massive. Our tour guide Raj was good and took us to two shops after, one to see a semi-precious stone, the star of India. It is a black stone that when light hits, creates a cross through the stone. There is also a purple one that creates a six point star when light hits it. It was a sales pitch, of course, but nice to hear about the stone which I had never heard of before. It’s illegal to export out of Agra for commercial sale! The second stop was a demonstration of the marble cutting and artisan work that Agra is known for. This was actually very interesting, because the guy who talked to us (who also owned the store, another sales pitch) is a 17th generation artisan who goes every Friday to do restoration work on the Taj Mahal. I learned that the Qu’ran that’s written on the walls are in fact in-laid stone! I thought it was painted on, but that is all cut by hand and carved into the marble. Pretty amazing to think about it. I am in awe of the work!!
–Bea
PS: When Ian and I went to Mexico and saw the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, I said that we should try and see all of the new wonders of the world! I’ve now seen two. That means we’ll have to come back here one day, so Ian can see it too. 🙂
Leaving Delhi, on the way to Agra. So much garbage everywhere.
The woman was dumping garbage.
Village life
The Indian landscape
I took this from the moving car, but there is a woman in pink in the middle of the massive greenery.
After the dusty and dirty city, it was nice to see some greenery!
Strange to see the swatiska, but it means “all is well.”
The craziness….
How many people can you fit on a tuk tuk?
A temple on the way to Agra.
More craziness!! It’s like this everywhere!!!
My hotel room in Agra, the Parkside Sun Hotel.
The bathroom at the hotel. I was excited to have a long hot shower, but alas, there was only lukewarm water for which I had to keep the cold water off and it only came in trickles. At least I got to use my conditioner!
The yummy lamb curry I had!!
The beautiful architecture of the main entrance to the Taj Mahal
On one side of the Taj Mahal, there is a mosque, and the other a guest house. This is one of them.
The main entrance of the Taj Mahal
Inside the west gate of the Taj Mahal
A camel near the Taj Mahal!
In Rajasthan tradition, after you eat, you take a spoonful of fennel seeds and sugar as a mouth refresher. It was good, but tasted too much like black licorice, which I don’t enjoy.
Pretty
Me at the entrance. It’s very awe inspiring when you first walk in and see it!!
There it is! Twenty two years to build, with 20,000 labourers, artisans who carved and etched and laid marble and semi-precious stones by hand!
Amazing to see in person.
The gardens
Taj Mahal
The stone and marble pathway to the mausoleum
Taj Mahal
Our guide told us that up until about 20 years ago, tourists could go up to the top of this tower, but it was closed off because many people were committing suicide. Yikes.
The carvings…
Pretty view from the Taj Mahal
The Qu’ran is inscribed in the Taj Mahal. At first I thought this was painted on, but that is all in-laid stone carved by hand!! It’s beautiful!!
Me, the tourist!
Taj Mahal
This carving was done by hand, goes for metres, and is one piece of marble. There is no break in it!!
Designs made from in-laid semi precious stones.
More details
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The river view from the Taj Mahal. The Yamuna River supposed to be holy, like the Ganges.
View from the Taj Mahal
Details
More details
I can’t get over how amazing it is!!
Someone stole the stone!!
This is actually a flat tower made to look like it’s pointed inwards and shaped like a star!
Mosque/guest house. Not sure which one it is. They are identical.
Gorgeous!!
Random monkeys…
On my way out.
Random tree
Um… can I help you?
Taj Mahal
Monks!
An explanation
Top of the entrance
Leaving the Taj Mahal
Goodbye Taj Mahal
Another random monkey
This one’s for Bou
Love the sign, and then the tons of people asking you if you want to buy fake marble souvenirs immediately upon leaving…
The wheel they still use to hand shape the semi-precious stones
A featured table top made of Indian marble and hand stone in-laid
My turn! It’s frickin hard… don’t know how they built the Taj Mahal by hand!!
Stanny practicing carving out the marble from a 17th generation artisan
Statue of some sort…
Camel!
Agra’s Red Fort
Agra’s Red Fort. We didn’t get to go in, but it seemed massive on the outside! It’s similar to the one in Delhi, except the King who built the Taj Mahal for his third wife was exiled here by his son. He was able to view the making of the mausoleum.
Agra’s Red Fort
Agra’s Red Fort
Agra’s Red Fort
Water buffalo? Out for an afternoon stroll…
More craziness… You see that car going the wrong way into oncoming traffic? He’s supposed to be on the other side of median!!!
Lord Brahma
Statue we saw at a hotel restaurant.
Lord Shiva
Um… how many people can fit on the roof of a truck?!
Bea Vongdouangchanh 