Salaam!

We have survived another day in Agra(vation) :-) We have spent the morning walking around the city avoiding rickshaw wallahs who are persistent in getting you under their canopy - it has been the worse that we have seen since Delhi. The wallahs will offer you a "free" ride, which will result in the innocent tourist ending up on a wild goose chase to all of the shops that will give the wallah twenty rupees for you just walking through the door. You will then being a victim of aggressive commerce tactics. The wallahs do not go away. Despite our incredibly clear Hindi and good pronunciation. I am learning to be blunt and firm without being rude, sometimes I joke a little, engage in a light conversation and tell them that we have been here for far to long for any of their antics :-)

So, as promised, on to the Taj Mahal.

First the reality...

There is an effort to protect the monument from the polluted atmosphere by creating a 2km radius around the Taj whereby vehicles that emit noxious fumes have been banned and local industry is having to comply to strict rules and regulation. As a result there are electric rickshaws/ buses, camel carts and horse drawn carriages to transport tourists. We decided to catch the number 11 bus (our legs :-) with the accompanying call to prayer sounding out from the many mosques around us. After stopping off at Joney's Place for the best coffee in town, we arrived incredibly early at the Taj, in fact pre-dawn. It was still dark, there were no queues to get in and very few visitors compared to the heaving masses that we saw later in the day. We had to walk through metal detectors and have our bags searched thoroughly to gain entry through the west gate. Our entry fee was 750 rupees, for Indians it is 20 rupees, Indian people think that we are crazy to pay such an extortionate price. There was a terrorist threat here in August 2006 and I should think that since then security has been tight. Later I also noticed the security patrols brandishing automatic weapons walking the perimeter walls as well as the guards standing high up watching out from the towers, silhouetted in the morning sun. In fact in Agra in the Taj Ganj area there are regular patrols of police on horses and there are many lining the approaches to the gates of the Taj. We then walked to the red sandstone gateway which conceals the Taj, allowing you to only see the monument when you have walked up to the gate, this is symbolic of the divide between the secular world and paradise. The garden in front of the Taj, although wonderful, is not as splendid as it once was, the lawns and the watercourses do however add to the symmetry that the Taj is renowned for. Still, it was also dark and the green lawns and sandstone paths did not yet contrast against the whiteness of the marble - as we were to realise later in the day. Many tourists stood at the gateway, waiting for the dawn and the opportunity to take the cliched photo of the Taj from the front with the garden lined up. I admit this is a beautiful position but K and I did not want to be amongst the crowd. We decided to walk up the side of the watercourses (the rivers of heaven) and get straight up to the monument to watch dawn from the east side and thus the morning light reflecting off of the building. The Taj was covered in the morning mist rising up from the river Yamuna this added to the other worldly effect.



The Beauty..

It radiates an eternal declaration of love; sensual and captivating, pure.

The morning fog was embracing it, I was seeing an image in a cloud such was the effect of white marble swamped in the mist. I imagined that I was seeing something from another realm and not just another century. As the fog became thicker it appeared as though it was slipping away because the Taj was not so clear to see. Then the sun came and captured it, the warm hues making the marble more solid and reassured me that I was not in a dream - although in it's presence you cannot help but feel as though you are in a dream. I sat myself down on a bench because I felt as though I could no longer stand, I wanted my senses to absorb my surroundings and my body was only causing a distraction. I sat here for almost an hour, watching the colour change as the sun caused the surface of the marble to reflect shades of pink then pale orange followed by soft gold, appreciating the fancy. As the dawn ended and the new day began the true fabric and presence of the tribute became very real. It did not lose it's magic. I looked at the boldness of it's lines and it's symmetry, balanced out with the softness of the marble. It looked like a line drawing lifted straight off of a parchment, I imagined that somebody had come along and carefully filled in the shades of tan, grey and cream effectively amongst the white marble. The inlay of semi-precious stones was more apparent and I admired the detail of vines and petals that I imagined to be refreshed by the morning dew. It adds to the beauty to know the following: the stones came from far and wide:

Red carnelian - Baghdad
Red, yellow and brown jasper - Punjab
Amethyst - Persia
Diamonds - India
Mother of Pearl - Indian Ocean
Crystal and green jade - China
Turquoise - Tibet
Agates - Yemen
Blue lapis lazuli - Afghanistan and Ceylon
Dark green malachite - Russia



There is a saying of the prophet (Shah Jahan was a Muslim), it describes the throne of God as a dome of white pearl supported by white pillars. It is said that the pearl appearance of the dome is thus not coincidental. I admired the smoothness of the dome against the sharpness of the minarets. There are verses of the Koran in calligraphy of black marble bordering doorways. I admired the script and I found it pleasing to look at it's curves - words that I do not understand and cannot read adding to the mystique. The marble in places reminded me of white marzipan that has been smoothly molded by hand into intricate shapes and glazed with egg white.

In order to go inside the tomb it is a requirement to wear soft covers over your shoes (these are provided). I am going to leave it to K to describe the interior.

My conclusion - The Taj is breathtaking. It captivates you. You get the impression of an eternal love whose existence cannot be denied such is the strength of the piece that has been created. Nothing that I have read or seen prepared me for the beauty, magnificence and depth of feeling that I found before me. I suggest that if you have ever wanted to see this Wonder of the World that you do so. That you get there at dawn to beat the crowds and make the effort. Truly there is nothing that will ever come close to being here and was more than worth the effort in putting up with the Agra(vation) :-)

I have really enjoyed writing this post, thank you for reading.