On our long exhausting drive to Agra we learned a few things. One being that people love to stare at western tourists. Our tour guide had told us that people in India think white skin is beautiful and they try everything to lighten their skin. In America we like to be tan, well people in India will buy whitening cream to lighten their skin color. Then they will take pictures of you without you noticing. We even saw some locals taking pictures with tourists. It became a little annoying after awhile. Another thing we learned is that more people in India will pay to have a cell phone over a working toilet. The third thing we realized is that people will do anything for money and beg you constantly to buy something. That also became annoying.
Once we reached Agra the anticipation to see the Taj Mahal set in and we had to keep ourselves busy. Our new tour guide met us at Akbar’s tomb. Akbar started constructing his own mausoleum and then his son finished it. His grandson was the one who built the Taj Mahal. But this tomb was pretty as well. There were two kinds of wild deer that roam the gardens. These are not the same kind of deer that we encountered in Kyoto, Japan. None of them came up to us and begged for food, they just kept their distance!
Akbar’s tomb
The gate to the tomb behind us
Akbar’s resting place
After this visit we went to the hotel to rest up for our early start to see the Taj Mahal in the morning.
This time of year the weather in India is unpredictable, but luckily the morning we went to the Taj Mahal was not so bad. It was a little foggy/smokey and it was clear skies so the sun was just rising. Our tour guide told us the morning is the most majestic time to see that Taj Mahal (and also not so crowded!).
They taxi us by golf cart to the gate where you then go through metal detectors, cannot bring food or gum in your bag and then give you shoe covers for going inside the tomb.
This is the second gate to get into the gardens. Notice the stray dog behind us! haha
Now for the moment we waited patiently for…our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal
The story behind the Taj Mahal is that it was built as a tomb for the King’s favorite wife. He had three wives, but this one he had loved before he married her, she provided him with advice and was the only wife that gave him 14 children. Only 6 survived. She died giving birth to the last child. They were together for 22 years so everything that deals with the Taj Mahal is centered on the number 22.
What is so unique about the Taj Mahal is that everything is symmetrical. From this point all the way to the tombs inside and below the Taj Mahal. At any point in and around the building everything is exactly symmetrical. The towers may seem like they are leaning and in fact they were built to slightly lean to resemble the earthquake that the King had encountered during his lifetime.
Our tour guide was excellent. He knew every spot to take a picture. Including the same spot that Princess Diana sat to take her own picture in front of the Taj Mahal.
In the picture below you cannot see, but we tried to capture the reflection of the sun off the semi-precious stones that cover the building. Everything is marble, semi-precious stone and the writing is made from Black Onyx.
I still cannot believe that I was able to experience this wonder that I have only read about in textbooks or seen in movies. We could not take pictures of the tombs inside, but as you can imagine, the inside was just as beautiful as the outside. We felt no sadness as it was a tomb, but the warm feeling of how much the King loved and cherished his wife.
After the Taj Mahal we went to Agra Fort which was a large fort with many buildings within. That evening we attended a show that tells the love story of the King and his wife through music and dance. The Indian dancers were very good and the story was very moving!
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