INDIA: AGRA & TAJ MAHAL

Posted October 27, 2008 by David McGuinness

So my trip in the more touristy part of India had arrived. Quite different from the North East, in fact I saw single groups larger than all the foreigners I had seen in the North East in 3 months! But it was also interesting though in a different way. So I arrived into Agra on the early train, was dropped to my very comfortable hotel, and my guide picked me up to bring me to the Taj Mahal. We were dropped off short of the monument and had to take a rickshaw the last part.

It had been almost ten years since I’d last visited the Taj Mahal but still it took my breath away when I caught my first glimpse. The colour of the stone, the beautiful symmetry of the building, the incredible marble inlay work and the story of Shah Jahan’s love for his wife Mumtaz that inspired its creation make it a truly unique building.

We spent a couple of hours taking in the Taj before driving across town to the Agra Fort where Shah Jahan was eventually imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb after overthrowing his father.

The room in the fort where his father was imprisoned has some of the best views of the Taj Mahal, scant consolation for Shah Jahan I’m sure. I also visited a workshop where the families of the creators of the Taj Mahal still ply their trade in marble-inlay work, and was very impressed with the quality of the produce but also the easy, laid-back approach to sales, unlike the street hawkers who are quite a pain in Agra specifically.

On my second day in Agra we drove out to Akbar’s mausoleum, about 10km from Agra. The building was built by Akbar, the third and greatest Mughal emperor and contains elements of Christian, Islamic and Hindu architecture in line with Akbar’s beliefs (and his wives, having one from each of the three faiths).

The gardens were lovely and full of deer, monkeys and birds.

After that we drove to Itimad-ud-Daulah (better known as the Baby Taj). This beautiful building was effectively the precursor of the Taj, and many of the design elements were copied from this building. In the afternoon I went hotel hunting and checked out a load of hotels in Agra, varying from the adequate to the grandiose.

I spent the evening listening to live music in a small restaurant and being amused by the local kids playing air guitar and trying to learn U2 songs.

– David

This blog is part of an Off-The-Beaten-Track Travel Diary. Click on the links below to navigate through this journey.