India Feb 2018 - Tuesday in Agra and the Taj Mahal

Early on Tuesday morning we said goodbye to the Hilton Hotel in Jaipur and began the 5 hour (only 240 kms!) drive to Agra. 

We had read that to get the full experience of the visual beauty of the Taj Mahal, one should try to be there at sunrise and in the late afternoon at sunset. However, we had been told by our driver Vikram and by a couple that we had met at the Chabad House that capturing the Taj in the morning this time of the year is very iffy because of the frequent morning fog that descends over the area. 

So Vikram suggested that we leave early enough to allow sufficient time for a late afternoon and evening visit to get the full benefit of a Taj visit.

We arrived in Agra in the early afternoon and were met by our local guide Anurag “Anu” Mathur. He spoke English perfectly having attended university in the USA. He was extremely knowledgeable about the historical facts surrounding the places that we visited and presented everything in a very confident manner. But it was another talent that he had that would prove most valuable later that afternoon. More on that soon.

We first drove to the Doubletree Hilton hotel, a very modern and well maintained hotel, and we checked in. Our meals had arrived from Chabad and we had a quick lunch before heading out with Anu.

We drove to the Agra Fort, an important 16th-century walled city, which was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty till 1638, when the capital was shifted from Agra to Delhi. It is about 2.5 km northwest of its more famous sister monument, the Taj Mahal. The forbidding exteriors of this fort hide an inner paradise.

The construction of the Agra fort was started around 1565, when the initial structures were built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, and subsequently taken over by his grandson Shah Jahan, who added most of the marble creations to the fort. It would unfortunately become his personal prison later in his life.

Once again we see the use of the six sided Star of David in Muslim architecture.

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After our very pleasant walk thru the Fort with detailed explanations by Anu, we were on our way to the Taj Mahal. Because of the number of visitors to the Taj, your driver is only permitted to take you to a spot about a km from the entrance. From there you either board a tram, a tuk-tuk or walk to the entrance. We took the tram half way there and walked the rest. Walking up the walkway to the main entrance gate, you can catch your first glimpse of the Taj and it is breathtaking. 

The weather all day had been hazy and thankfully the sun had burned thru the haze and we now had a totally cloudless sky and perfect conditions for taking pictures of the Taj Mahal. And it was here that we learned about Anu’s great skill as a photographer. He took charge of both my cameras, chose appropriate locations where we should pose and somehow miraculously in a number of pictures, captured the moment where it actually looked like we were the only ones in the picture. 

The pictures below and all the pictures in our India blog were taken with our iPhone 6 camera.

I am assuming that the pics that were taken with our Nikon SLR will be even better.

He shared his web address for his photography and if you have the time, visit it: it is quite amazing. 

https://m.facebook.com/anuragmathur12474/photos/?mt_nav=1

First, here are some of my shots of the Taj Mahal:

Here are some of the shots that Anu got of the Taj Mahal and us:

For those who are interested, below is a brief fascinating history of the builder of the Taj, Shah Jahan and facts about the construction of the building. 

We were overwhelmed by the beauty, symmetry and elegance of this building. We had seen it in pictures, had read about it and in the case of some places in the world, that would be sufficient. But in the case of the Taj, seeing it was a real thrill and well worth the drive and trip to India. 

Born in 1592, Shah Jahan was the son of Emperor Jahangir. He displayed great military skills at an early age against numerous enemies. However, he wasn't just a sharp military leader, but also exceptionally talented at building and proved it by re-designing buildings within the Agra fort and also building the Red Fort in Delhi. Among many titles he had earned, "The Builder of the Marvels" was one that would soon be proven with his building one of the 7 wonders of the world.

At the age of 15, he was betrothed to Arjumand Banu Begum, the 14 year old granddaughter of a Persian noble. Arjumand was the love of his life and he named her Mumtaz Mahal, meaning "Jewel of the Palace" and she became the favourite of all his wives.

After she died in 1631 while giving birth to their 14th child, Shah Jahan undertook the work of constructing world's most beautiful monument in her memory. This ivory-white marble mausoleum which entombs Mumtaz Mahal as well as Shah Jahan, came to be known as "Taj Mahal", the building of which took 22 years and 22000 laborers. Artisans and designers, dome-makers, calligraphers, and inlay artists were imported from Iran and Central Asia to ensure the quality of the construction. 

Material was brought in from all over India and neighbouring countries - marble from the quarries of Makrana in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, turquoise from Tibet, jade from China, lapis lazuli and sapphires from Sri Lanka - and carried to the site by a fleet of 1,000 elephants. In all, twenty-eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have cost an estimated 32 million rupees at that time, which today would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees or US$827 million. 

There are many legends associated with Shah Jahan. One of the most popular is that, once the Taj was completed, he cut off the fingers of the artisans or poked out their eyes, so that never again would such a masterpiece be possible. 

However, our guide told us that such legends are “fake news”. In actuality, Shah Jahan, when hiring the artisans, built a city to house all of them together with their families. He made them promise that they would never leave the city, thus ensuring that they could not duplicate the construction for any other world leader. Many of the descendants of these families still live in Agra. 

In 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill, and Dara, Mumtaz Mahal's eldest son assumed responsibility of his father's throne. His other son, Aurangzeb, accompanied by 2 younger brothers marched on Agra to claim their share of the throne. They defeated Dara's armies and declared their father Shah Jahan incompetent to rule and put him under house arrest in the very same Agra Fort that he had so lovingly redesigned and decorated. He was placed under house arrest in a room, from which he could see, some 2 to 3 kms in the distance, the Taj Mahal, his greatest achievement. 

After Shah Jahan died in 1666 in captivity, his body was taken quietly by two men and was laid beside his favourite wife, Mumtaz.

We returned to the Hilton and on Wednesday leave for the drive back to Delhi, and our flight to the Holy City of Varanasi.

All the best

Fran and David

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