Destination: Agra and the Taj Mahal

After our short stay in mystical Varanasi and saying goodbye to some of our friends who went straight back to Kolkata, our group headed to the one spot that is present in each and every Indian trip, the city of Agra, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, home to one of the most celebrated man-made creations of all time: the Taj Mahal. In fact, the mystique over the building is so intense that few people even know it is located in Agra before coming to India, and that this city has actually more to offer than just the Taj – leading many people to stop by, take a few pictures of the marble wonder and go straight to Jaipur (for those on the Golden Triangle route) or back to Delhi.

Agra was first established in 1501 as a capital city for Sultan Sikander Lodi. However, the city was conquered by the Mughal Empire in 1526. Being a central city to Mughal power made Agra flourish, especially during the reigns of celebrated Mughal emperor Akbar and Shah Jahan. It was during this period that the main landmarks of the city, including the Taj, were built.

We arrived in Agra by sunrise, and were greeted right there on the station by an unexpected impressive view: Agra’s railway station is set at the shadows of the great red sandstone walls of the Agra Fort. We went through the all-too-constant hassle of negotiating a more-or-less-fair price with the rickshaw drivers, and found our way to our hotel, which was called Saniya Palace and was located near the South Gate of the Taj Mahal complex. We were very impressed by the incredibly good view of the Taj provided by the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, which gave us our first peek at the thing.

The view from our rooftop

After freshening up a little, and since we had been told that visiting the Taj Mahal by the early morning would be much better (good advice, for that matter), we invested our afternoon in a ride to the Agra Fort. The Fort was built for military use by Emperor Akbar in 1565, but Shah Jahan transformed it into a full-fledged palace with a lot of additions. Ironically, after his son overthrew him, the fort became his prison for the last eight years of his life, a gilded cage from where he could admire his creation, the Taj.

The fort is a very impressive building of high walls and lots of courtyards, some of them housing gardens, training grounds, public audience halls, or just beautifully decorated walkabouts.

Shah Jahal’s additions to the original project are easily recognizable as they are all built with white marble, as opposite to the red stone of the walls and main structures.

MADNESS? This... is... SPARTAAAAA

A part of the water collection and drainage system

After visiting the fort, we went to take a look at the so-called “Baby Taj”. This small but beautifully decorated mausoleum actually houses the remains of Princess Mumtaz Mahal’s grandfather, and is said to have inspired the general architecture of the actual Taj.

Since we had decided to pay the Taj Mahal a visit only on the next day’s morning, our driver took us to a small park located across the river that goes behind the Taj Mahal, where we were able to appreciate good views of it and a beautiful sunset.

We woke up at 4:00am and started the chilly walk from our hotel to the Taj’s South Gate.  As it happens so often in India, there was a slow, bureaucratic and highly inefficient security check system in place. We had to buy the very expensive ticket in booth that was relatively far away from the entrance (of coursew there were no signs or anybody explaining that to newcomers), and then wait long minutes in an even longer line until they started taking people in, checking their handbags and pockets, and allowing them into the complex. The catch is: EVERYBODY knows that tourists that come to the gate while it’s still dark (and there are hundreds of them every single day) are trying for a sunrise view of the Taj, but guards will not make a move to start the security check until it’s fully clear in the morning. The obvious result is that the front-liners literally RUN like crazy to get a picture of the thing BEFORE the swarm of people envelops everything.

That said, the Taj Mahal is really, truly, once-in-a-lifetime unforgettable experience. Much is said by contempt-filled backpackers about how “touristy” and “mainstream” the place is, but whoever goes there rarely, if ever, leaves disappointed.

The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahal as a mausoleum in honor of his beloved third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died at childbirth. The finest architects from Persia and Arabia, as well as the greatest stoneworkers and artisans of the known world were called to produce this wonder, made almost entirely of white marble. By early morning, the sunlight turns the impeccable white marble pink-reddish, further adding to its beauty.

One could spend all day walking through the remarkably well-tended gardens and still be impressed at the quiet beauty of the place. One could spend weeks going there everyday, circling the Taj and going in and  out of its chambers, and still be amazed at the wonderful marble inlays, the symmetry of the architecture, the beautiful Arabic calligraphy of the Quran’s chapters inscribed there, and everything else. Every single little and apparently insignificant space is filled with beauty of some form, and you can see how well-planned and carefully built the whole complex was. It is indeed one of the great, if not the greatest, feats of human endeavor, and it’s impossible not to be awe-struck. That guy must REALLY have loved his wife.

Our short stay in Agra was coming to an end, and we had to rush back to the hotel to pack our things and run to the station to catch our train to Jaipur. It was not without regret that we said our goodbyes to the Taj, a beautiful jewel in the middle of an otherwise scorching, unforgiving land. It was also parting time to some members of our group that were heading back to Kolkata. At least we’ll have this picture, and all the incredible memories of Agra, to cherish in the years to come.

Next stop: Rajasthan!