Asia Adventure 2012: Delhi and Agra (Taj Mahal)

Altaf picked us up at 7am for the our long 200km journey through the streets of Delhi and countless villages, and highway toll stations along the way to Agra. We picked up our Guide Nav in Agra.

There were some fascinating sites along the journey such as cows, buffalo, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year sign, bicycles with impossibly large loads, tractors with gigantic loads of hay, DIY vehicles, mounds of cow dung patties used for heating, brick plant smoke stacks spewing out clouds of smoke, oil refineries, countless shops and services, fruit and veggie markets, farms, mosques, temples, restaurants, gas stations, beggars selling wares (chess sets, magazines, fans, sun screens for car windows), beggars selling products (pictures with snakes and monkeys), beggars with horrible disfigurements or young hungry children asking for money, and lots and lots of people. It was immeasurably fascinating and rather alarming at times.

We arrived at the entrance around 11:30am and took an electric tram to the front gate. The Taj Mahal started to show signs of yellowing due to pollution, so now motorized vehicles are not permitted on the property and many factories with active smokestacks have been relocated away from the area and it is helping to preserve this wonder of the world. The Taj Mahal is closed every Friday and Sunday is the busiest day, so if you plan to visit, avoid Sunday’s as they are impossibly busy.

The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan adored his third wife Mumtaz Mahal. One of her worldly wishes was to have a beautiful tomb, so after she died during the birth of their 14^th child, he set out to build the most beautiful tomb in the world which is known at the Taj Mahal. It stands on the banks of the River Yamuna in Agra. The Taj Mahal, one of the most costly tombs in the world, is considered to be one of the wonders of the world.

The southern entrance gate to the Taj Mahal is an architectural wonder in itself built of sandstone and marble with intricate inlaid semi-precious stones. This gate was named after a female companion of Mumtaz Mahal, who is buried there, and is called the Tomb of a Maid of Honour.

It took 20,000 labourers (and many elephants) 22 years to build during 1631-1653. It was built of pure white marble brought in from China, Tibet and other places. It sits in an expansive garden full of water canals, fountains, flowers, shrubs, trees, and fruit trees. The outer walls of the Taj Mahal were decorated with exquisitely written verses from the Koran and the sides were carved with flowers, fruits and vines and decorated with a pains-taking and time-consuming inlayed stones process using yellow marble, jasper, jade and semi-precious gems. Inside the tomb, beautiful marble screens were set around the place where Mumtaz Mahal was buried. When Shah Jahan died, he was buried next to Mumtaz Mahal’s centrally place tomb. A replica of the tombs is on display in the main double-walled dome (which visitors get prodded along on busy days… so don’t go on a Sunday). Except for the lack of symmetry of the tombs, the Taj Mahal is a geometrical and mathematical wonder of pure symmetry. Identical mosques were built on either side purely for symmetrical purposes because the one on the right cannot be used as a mosque due to its improper placement (entry door faces west and this is not acceptable).

Princess Diana visited the Taj Mahal on 11 Feb 1992 and there I was 20 years and a bit later in the same spot. I was unable to shop around for similar clothing, so I made due with a purple skirt which was similar to the one she wore. Although Nav pointed out Di’s bench, I was certain that it was not the one in that iconic picture. So I made sure to get pictures taken on the bench I believed to be Di’s bench (and turns out I my visual memory did not let me down!). Unfortunately, I did not have similar attire, except for the purple skirt she wore, which I wore under my “temple” skirt. Imagine the look I got from Nav when he offered to take our picture and I said, “yes please, but just give me a moment to change my skirt”.

We had lunch at the Pinch of Spice restaurant before heading to the Agra Fort. But we made a stop at Akbar International which is a traditional manufacturer of inlayed marble work at the Taj Mahal who claims that their artisans are descendants of Taj Mahal artisans. It is a very tricky and intricate process in which semi-precious stones are sliced, washed, chipped into small bits. These bits are delicately shaped by using a grinding disc (flowers can use anywhere from 32 to 120 bits for form). The stones are placed into cavities that have been chiseled into marble and are affixed with a secret glue that is activated with a piece of burning charcoal. Then the inlaid surface is sanded flat and polished. Although, it would have been amazing to purchase a small round table, we opted to get a tray as it was more manageable in size and weight to remain in compliance with luggage restrictions. It’s quite a beautiful piece.

The Agra Fort was designed and built in 1565 A.D. when Agra was the capital of India (1,444,000 builders worked on it for eight years, completing it in 1573). It is located less than 2 kilometers from the Taj Mahal, on the Yamuna river. The 70 foot high wall was built of red sandstone, surrounded by a moat (which is dry today), and had several buildings constructed inside most of which were constructed by Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal.

Visitors cross the drawbridge and enter through the Amar Singh Gate into the courtyard; very simple. But in yesteryear, an enemy would have to cross the drawbridge, move on a slight ascent including a 90-degree turn while risking a spray of hot oil and gun fire, then continue the ascent and another 90-degree turn, crash down the inner gates, continue the ascent facing more gun fire and if that was not enough, then they would face the impending force of large boulders. So I’d highly recommend against trying to conquer this fort!

Inside the complex, the “friendly” visitor of today, gets to see the amazing multi-pillared Hall of Public Audience called “Diwan-i-am” was built in 1628, mosques, palaces, gardens, courtyards, markets, etc. One really interesting feature of this fort is that walls were filled with running water in order to cool the rooms in summer.

The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb in the Agra Fort. It is rumoured that he died in the Musamman Burj, a tower with a beautiful marble balcony, that had a wonderful view of the Taj Mahal. Now, how mean was that?

It was past 5:30pm before we headed back to Delhi. With only one short stop along the way, we made it back to the hotel by 10pm which was too late for dinner, but that’s okay because we could stand to miss a few meals at this point! Altaf is quite a skilled and experienced driver and I could not figure out how he manoeuvres through traffic. There was a sign that read, “Please follow the rules of the road”, and as far as I could imagine, there is only 1 rule, “what’s behind me is not important”!