The Taj Mahal

Before we headed out to the village, we had one day in Delhi, so we decided to go to Agra and see the Taj Mahal. And it was a really, really intense day! Kate and I had just arrived the night before and were still jet lagged. We had to get on the bus at 6 a.m. to head out to Agra. We were told that the drive there would take 4 hours, but it turned out to be more like 6 hours. No time for breakfast, just go, spent about an hour and a half at the Taj, a bit of lunch, a bit of shopping, then back on the bus for 6 hours ... exhausting!

Road to the Taj

This is pretty typical scenery in India ... tons of auto-rickshaws of course. Most buildings we saw were falling apart, yet every few blocks there was a billboard for a swanky housing development.

Streets of Agra

In LineSecurity is really tight at the Taj. You cannot bring in any bags, only a camera and a bottle of water. Everyone gets pat searched upon entry also. And like everything in India, there are separate lines for men and women, so nobody has to be patted down by the opposite sex.

Red Corridor

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal really is beautiful. I think our guide said it best, "The beauty of the Taj cannot be expressed in words; it has to be experienced by the individual." I really like that idea, and I think it is true of beauty in general -- you can't always explain why it is so beautiful, you just know that it is.

Anyway, a quick rundown of the history of the Taj -- it is actually a Mausoleum built for a queen - a monument to true love, so to speak. Her name was Mumtaz Mahal, and she died after giving birth to her 14th child (!!). Her husband, Shah Jahan, was so grief stricken that he started to have health problems. So in tribute, he had the Taj built for her, and he wanted it to be the most beautiful building in the world. Talk about love! It took 22 years to build and was finished in 1648.

Kids, Just Hanging Out

What I liked most about the Taj was the general feeling of peacefulness that prevailed over the whole grounds. It was very crowded, but somehow it was still calm and pretty quiet. Felt like people enjoying a Sunday stroll in the park, not like a major tourist attraction. Ironically, the only place that was NOT peaceful was the inside of the mausoleum - in there people were loud and pushy and taking tons of flash photos. It didn't feel like a tomb at all and it actually made me feel sorry for the poor queen. You have the spectacular monument built for you, but because of it your final resting place is constantly crowded with obnoxious tourists!

Side View of the Taj Mahal

The Mosque

The Taj is an Islamic building - I didn't realize this before, but it is actually so apparent from the architecture! There is a mosque off to one side, and to keep the symmetry, they build an identical building on the other side that wasn't intended to be used for anything specific. I think our guide said that it is now a tomb for several other people and is referred to as "The Guest House."

BC Group at the Taj

These are some of the people that I would be spending the next 2 weeks with. We are all JETs but live in different parts of Japan. As you can imagine, we all got pretty close during the trip, and *hopefully* will be having a reunion sometime this summer before some of us leave the country and go back home.

I am really, really happy that I got to see the Taj Mahal - it has always been on my list of "must-sees." And I wasn't disappointed by it at all - it really is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. The only regret I have is not being able to spend enough time there, one of the inevitable downfalls of going with a group. When I visit such beautiful or historical places, I love to linger and just soak it all up, but we only had an hour and a half. So I feel like I didn't really get the full experience. Maybe someday I will have to go back!