Taj Mahal
This morning we only have a 15 minute drive from the hotel to the Taj Mahal. We park the minibus and take a short walk from the carpark to the entrance.

At the Taj we participated in a well-known tourist ritual - queuing. It's not something that I enjoy, but to be honest, apart from security checks at the airports we've not had to wait in line at all. So this morning comes as something of a shock to the system. Eventually we are processed through security and are able to enter the Taj Mahal complex.

The Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan's third and favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

Completed in 1653, the Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal King Shah Jahan on the south bank of the Yamuna River as the final resting place for his third and most beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The mausoleum, which is finished in marble, and set amidst landscaped gardens took 22 years (1630–1652) and an estimated 20,000 workers, masons and jewellers to build.

The Taj Mahal was built on a marble platform that stands above a sandstone one. Verses of the Koran are inscribed on it and at the top of the gate are twenty-two small domes, signifying the number of years the monument took to build. The most elegant dome of the Taj Mahal is 60ft in diameter and 80ft high; directly under this dome is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan's tomb was erected next to hers by his son Aurangzeb. The interiors are decorated with fine inlay work, incorporating semi-precious stones.

We enter the landscaped gardens through the red sandstone arch and our eyes follow the water canal to the reflecting pool, which is halfway between the gate and the Taj Mahal, and then to the Taj Mahal itself.



For me the most elegant decorative elements of the building are the calligraphic ones, with passages from the Qur'an used throughout. The text on the Great Gate reads: "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you."


The calligraphy was created by a calligrapher named Abd ul-Haq, in 1609 upon whom Shah Jahan conferred the title of "Amanat Khan" as a reward for his "dazzling virtuosity".

Much of the calligraphy is composed of thuluth script (large and elegant, cursive script), made of jasper or black marble, inlaid in white marble panels. The calligraphy on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is particularly detailed and delicate.

If I am ever fortunate enough to visit India again I'd like to revisit the Taj Mahal, but would want to visit early in the morning, before the crowds, to see it in a more serene setting without the seething mass of humanity.

After our visit to the Taj Mahal we drive a short distance along the river to Fort Agra or the Red Fort.



Fort Agra - The Red Fort
The Mughal Emperors and their civilisation may be long gone but Fort Agra or the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal remain as a legacy and tangible testimony to their influence. And whilst the history of Agra can be traced back more than 2,500 years, it was not until the reign of the Mughals that it became more than a provincial city. Agra was at its zenith during the reign of Humayun's son, Akbar the Great (1556 - 1605), when the main part of the Agra Fort was built.

This bastioned fortress, with walls of red sandstone rising above a moat and interrupted by graceful curves and lofty bastions, encompassed within its walls the imperial city of the Mogul rulers. The fort is crescent shaped, flattened on the east with a long, nearly straight wall facing the Yamuna River. It has a total perimeter of 1.5 miles and the moat, which surrounds the outer wall, is 30ft. wide and 33ft. deep. The somewhat forbidding exteriors of the fort conceal an inner paradise.

Notable buildings in the fort include two white marble mosques, the Moti Masjid or the Pearl Mosque, constructed in 1646-53 by Shah Jahan and the Nagina Masjid built during the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707); Diwan-i-Khas, built in 1637 and the multi-pillared Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience), constructed by Shah Jahan in 1628;  and the octagonal tower of Muhammam Burj. Of the two gates, the original and grandest entrance was through the Delhi Gate, which leads to the inner portal called the Hathi Pol or Elephant Gate. But now the fort can only be accessed through the Amar Singh Gate.




 
As I look across the bend in the Yamuna River I can see the Taj Mahal in the distance and think of Emperor Shah Jahan who may have had a similar view. He was imprisoned at Fort Agra for the last eight years of his life by his son Aurangzeb. Our guide tells us that Shah Jahan is said to have died in the Musamman Burj from where he had a view of the Taj Mahal.

Leaving through the Amar Singh Gate we walk through the crowds to our waiting minibus which whisks us back to our hotel where we can recharge our batteries!

After a busy day we're ready to rest and in the evening we sit down to dinner listening to the sounds of the sitar and drums...