The Taj Mahal!

Week of February 9

Monday we picked Miss Margie up for lunch al fresco at Drift, a restaurant at the Epicentre. The chef used his special sauce for a shrimp pasta dish per Margie’s request.
On Tuesday we had big plans to hit the President’s Rose Garden, a Moghal garden that is only open a few weeks each year. It actually rained here, though – not a lot but enough to cool everything down, so we passed on the roses and hit the Museum of Modern Art. Beautiful lay out and some very nice pieces – I really enjoyed work by artist Nandalal Bose. He’s done a wide array of painting – murals, landscape, epics, poster art for Gandhi, etc.

Then we had to stop at Margie’s to see the two labs she and her father are adopting – yellow dwarfs. Nice but high energy. (Will I ever be able to manage a dog?!?)

On Wed. we took off to see the Taj Mahal!!! Yes, saving it for the tail end of our experience here, I guess. We got up extra early to catch the 6:15 train from New Delhi to Agra – it takes 2+ hours by train, 6 by car. Plus no carsickness. Poor Claire has suffered enough.

The Delhi train station experience wasn’t as bad as I expected – or we caught it on a slow morning (ok “slow morning” is a bit of a misnomer here). (Or, as Joe says, I'm becoming desensitized.)

We stepped around many bodies covered with blankets, feet sticking out, on our way to the platform. Our train was ready and waiting, someone pointed us to our coach, seats were easy to find and we shared two. Next time will get three.

Breakfast was provided – a gray omelet (tasted surprisingly good, though) served with peas. Bread had a bit of a petroleum taste. Maybe they stored it too close to the engine? And thank heavens for Nescafe.

In Agra we were met, literally, as a rep from our tour group helped Ava and Claire down from the train. He took us to our driver, who then took us to pick up our guide, Anu, a very nice woman who also has two daughters.

First stop: The Taj!

You can’t park close as efforts have been put in place to protect and preserve it from pollution, so we got to choose our mode of transport to the gate. Claire opted for a horse cart, which was great fun – a skinny dark brown horse (I’ve yet to see a fat one here) pulled a smart white “carriage” (cart may be a more apt description).

The horse hustled us to the east gate (there are 4, with the North Gate being the big auspicious entry leading into the Taj). All are red sandstone.

Once in the gate we were surrounded by green space. The big gate itself is auspicious – red and white sandstone, Moghal architecture. According to our guide, the gate is likened to that of a veil of a beautiful woman – a way of announcing or preparing for something very important/beautiful. Symmetry is extremely important in Persian architecture (the roots of Moghals). The Taj and its “campus” (Taj and campus – don’t they jive?) are very symmetrical and heavily detailed, from practicality (i.e. hollow dome for heightened air flow – better a/c) to beauty in the tiniest detail.

Only superior quality materials were used – the best marble (white) from 300 miles away, which has an opaque quality that enables light to shine through. Hence the Taj can be captured “reflecting” different colors at different times of day.

When we were there it looked bright white, pristine and clean. The original structure had much gold on it, along with 28 different semi-precious and precious stones. Much of the gold was removed during British rule, but the inlaid stones couldn’t be removed so they remain today, in a myriad of colors and designs, to decorate the gorgeous tomb.

The inlaying is a work intensive process: first patterns are carved into the marble, then jewels/gems are cut to fit into the patterns. A special glue (secret recipe which has been handed down generation to generation by the craftspeople who do this special inlay work) is used to hold the gems in place.

One of the gems used to decorate the Taj is iridescent – orange/red – so that when light is shined on it it lights up. (Our guide demonstrated using a guard’s flashlight.)

Outside, writings from the Koran appear on the structure (inlaid onyx). Writings at the top are larger than script at eye level so that all can be read from below. They seem to be the same size (optical illusion).

Another optical illusion we experienced was upon entering the North Gate (the veil), through which we caught our first glimpse of the Taj. As we moved forward, it appeared to be moving away from us, when we stepped backward it appeared to be moving toward us!

About the Taj:

Shah Jahan built the tomb in honor of his third and favorite wife, Arjumand Bano Begum (who he called Mumtaz, which means the chosen one), after she died in childbirth (having her 14th child). I’d die too.
Construction on the monument began in 1631, was completed in 1653, with 20,000 workers and 1,000+ elephants completing the task.

Various parts of the Taj:
• Darwaza (The main gateway)
• Bageecha (The gardens)
• Masjid (The mosque)
• Naqqar Khana (The rest house)
• Rauza (The main mausoleum)

Today the mosque is still used, so the Taj is closed to the public each Friday. The mosque flanks the Taj on the left, and the rest house, identical to the mosque, flanks it on the right.

This is yet another example of how everything about the Taj is in perfect symmetry…except that Shah Jahan ended up buried there, next to Mumtaz. Not in the original plan, it is the devoted husband’s grave that mars his symmetrical plans.

We did attempt to have a photo taken by one of the Taj photographers with kids pointing at top of the Taj from a bench but he never did surface with our photos.

The river view from the taj was fine – the water is low this time of year. I can imagine that in the 1600’s the views were more spectacular…less pollution, trash, more trees/forest.

After our Taj tour we took the horse cart back to the car. Hawkers and beggars were all over us, more invasive than anywhere we’ve been in India. Anu told us tourism is the number one industry in Agra as it has three world Heritage sites. Following the Mumbai terrorist attack, and with the shrinking economy, Agra is really suffering, clearly heightening the desperation of hawkers and beggars.

She said typically this time of year between 10,000 and 15,000 people visit the Taj each day. This season it’s been more like 5,000 per day (no complaints – we didn’t stand in line anywhere, there weren’t any crowds, etc.).

Next stop after the Taj: a big, recently built store with workshops and a theatre. In the workshops etching is done, the same technique, glue, etc., used to decorate the Taj Mahal. We watched as one man made “grooves” or designs in the marble, another cut precious/semi precious stones in shapes to fit the grooves, another melting and applying glue, someone else putting the stones in…

Anu said some of the craftsmen actually lose their fingerprints on their 4th fingers from the repetition/pressure used in carving the intricate designs into the marble.
She said this work is becoming a lost art in India as fewer young people have the interest in carrying on a family tradition of inlay work.

Anu also said a more recent art has grown in Agra – leatherwork.

We got a sales spiel for the marble table tops – lovely but nothing I’m desperate to shlep to London or Davidson, for that matter. We hit another shop “cheapest and best quality” – where have I heard that before? Nothing terribly new and different so we headed to lunch. Good mutton dish, chicken for the kids, then we caught an impromptu puppet show outside (father worked the puppets, son played the drums).

Then off we went to the Red Fort. We only saw 10 percent of it and that 10 percent was huge! It is described as a “walled palatial city” and the most important fort in India.

India was was governed from the fort for many years, and great Mughals Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb lived there. At one time it contained the largest state treasury and mint and was visited by foreign ambassadors and dignitaries who helped shape India’s history.

Here, also, Shah Jahan was imprisoned fort by his son, Aurangzeb, and said to have died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with an excellent view of the Taj Mahal.

The red fort is also site of one of the battles during the Indian rebellion of 1857, leading to a century of direct rule by Britain. Some of the fort was destroyed during this battle, other parts torn down to make way for barracks.

Still other parts of it are under restoration. It’s a gorgeous place, made of sandstone (hence the red) and fun to wander. Not a heritage museum so lots of open space, moghal gardens, varying architectural styles as rulers added on/changed the fort over time. The Mosque inside the fort stopped being used after it served as a hospital – apparently in the Muslim view it is soiled and cannot be used again for prayer.

The fort, 2 ½ km from the Taj Mahal, offers great views of the tomb.

On the way out we spotted a monkey sitting on a motorbike, looked like he was trying to take the seat apart or go for a drive…or both.

From the fort we had our driver take us to a local market as Ava wanted henna on her hands. Both kids had designs done by street artists – all boys. They look like they’re 15 and competed against each other in the bargaining. I think we ended up paying 20 R per child.

We then wandered a bit, giving the henna some time to dry. One of the shops we wandered into sold shawls. I’d been cold all day (our chilliest day in India due to earlier rain). Anu said this is the typical winter weather here; it’s been abnormally warm this year (no complaints by me).

At the shawl shop I asked to see the biggest, warmest one they had. It was more like a blanket so I passed on that but found something in a more appropriate size, made of wool, all of 350 R. I left quite happy and warm – and a nice shopping experience. (I try to avoid purchasing anything at the overly pushy places, would rather spend my money in the family owned businesses where I feel like people are a bit more honest, willing to bargain, etc.)

Then we took a rickshaw ride – not something we’d planned to do, but a practically toothless, skinny bicycle rickshaw driver asked us several times, so politely, if we wanted a ride. (Must note: all rickshaw drivers are very skinny and no doubt old before their time. Seems a bit funny to pay someone to pull us around when we’re perfectly capable of strolling a few blocks, but then I guess if no one employs poor skinny rickshaw driver he makes no money...)

So for 20 rupees we took a jaunt around the market, kids loved it.

From there we went to a theatrical presentation based on the Shah and Muntaz’s love story and the ensuing creation of the Taj Mahal. It started out a bit cheesy and melodramatic with a woman narrator getting into starcrossed lovers and lust vs. love. But the show itself, with costuming and dance from the Moghal timeframe, was very good. Headphones for translation were handed out – mine was tuned into German. Quite the mix -- guttural German emanating from Muntaz, who had lovely dark skin and hair and was adorned in a brightly colored, heavily jeweled costume. (Not to worry, I found the English channel.)

The performance was a nice complement to our Taj visit, and the kids particularly enjoyed the dancing, of which there was plenty.

From the theatre we headed to the train station, saw one rat and plenty of desperate beggars and hawkers. I’ve gotten many offers to shine my shoes…my sandals look bad but I don’t think any amount of polishing is going to help. Plus let’s face it – nothing looks polished for long here because of all the dust and dirt we shelp through to go anywhere (not many sidewalks).

The train ride back went quickly and Ram was at the gate to meet us, thankfully. The slowest part of the whole process was getting out of parking!