Today is one of the highlights of our trip and we left the hotel at 5:45 a.m. in a cavalcade of auto rickshaws to drive the still quiet and deserted streets to the Taj Mahal. We arrived near the gates, walked the short distance to the entrance gate, then, after going through a stringent security check, were allowed to enter the grounds. The first view that greets you is the typical Taj picture - and in reality it is just as splendid as all the wonderful pictures you have seen. It is a magnificent structure, simple, elegant, beautiful, and peaceful. The building is so powerful, you just want to "whisper", so as not to break the magic. I was totally mesmerized, I couldn't take my eyes off it. There are some sights in the world that are worth preserving for eternity. The Taj is one of them. It is right up there with the spectacular beauty of Macchu Pichu.
The Taj was built in 1631 to 1653 by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife who died in childbirth with their4th child. It is said his hair turned grey overnight he was so devastated over the death. The sad story is that soon after it was built, Shah Jahan was thrown into prison in the Red Fort in Agra by his son Aurangzeb and he spent the rest of his days in prison. He was only every able to gaze out at the Taj through a window. The Taj is built of marble screens and marble inlay made with semi precious stones.
When we finished at the Taj our guide invited us to breakfast on the rooftop of his city home. Breakfast was fabulous. Curds, bananas, oranges, toast, and some Indian deserts. His home was simple and he lived with his wife, 2 brothers and one of their wives, his 4 children, and his mother.
After breakfast, we went to see a marble factory to learn how the marble was made. Then of course, the inevitable emporium tour which I think is so distasteful for an overland trip! Oh well, I am sure some of the others liked it!
We had a quick lunch in a nice restaurant and then went to see the Red Fort. This has to be one of the finest forts we have seen. It quite overpowers the city. It was built in 1565 by Emperor Akbar. It had the usual collection of buildings such as the Hall of Public Audiences, a Mosque built for the ladies of the Court, the Hall of Private Audiences, the Mirror Palace, and a beautiful garden.
After this Ray and I went to the the Internet and had another interesting experience of India kindness. The Internet we went to was full, so someone appeared (who we later learned was the brother of the man whose house we visited for breakfast) and drove us to a business friend of his. We ended up in his business meeting with 5 fast talking Indian businessmen. They set us up at the computer where we sat trying to be inconspicuous reading our email while they made their business agreements! Then it was back to the hotel, actually got a 15 minute nap, and off to see the Mini Taj. This was based on the design of the Taj only much smaller. It was pretty in its own way but had none of the magnificence of the Taj itself.
From there we spent sunset on the banks, or should I say the river-bed, of the River Yamuna taking breathtaking pictures of the Taj reflected in the river water.It was an amazing scene. The majestic Taj looming on the landscape across the river, a young girl scrubbing a few water-buffalo in the river, kids playing with goats, a camel with a camelkeeper giving camel rides to the tourists (there were only our group and maybe 2 others). Then a little down the river we noticed smoke from a burning ghat filling the evening air. If we thought this was going to be a peaceful ending to an amazing day, we did not account for a rickshaw ride back through town at the busiest time of the day. It was quite exciting zipping around bikes, man-pulled rickshaws, cows, etc., just avoiding being hit by buses and taxis, and waiting endlessly in a queue to get over a congested bridge, meanwhile horns are blasting in your ears, people are chattering on the road, and everyone is peering in the rickshaw and calling out or waving at the "white" tourists in the by now well separated rickshaw cavalcade.
We got to dinner and back to the hotel and bed around 10:00 a.m.......exhausted!
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