The Taj Majal

Agra - Taj Majal 082
Originally uploaded by susiebarber

Probably the biggest reason I came to India (I hate to admit it) was to see the Taj Majal. My original plan was to visit on August 15th. Not only is it my birthday, but it’s India’s independence day.
Unfortunately, the Taj is closed on Fridays. Yes, my birthday plans are foiled. Instead, I went today and will visit the Agra Fort tomorrow.

While in Thailand, I was 14 hours head of you west coasters, but here I am 12.5 hours behind. Now I can understand the hour from Thailand, since some countries don’t observe daylight savings. What what’s with the half hour? No other country does this, so if any of you can offer an explanation, please let me know. My point? The sun comes up at about 5:15 here and sets just before 7pm. The Taj opens at 6, so I thougth I’d beat the crowds and the heat and go early. I left my hotel at 6 and took the 5 minute walk to the east gate. It took 15 minutes to get my ticket and nearly 45 to get through security to go inside. I quickly realized that this wasn’t going to be like the Tiger Cave Temple where I’d have the place to myself.

Much has been said about the Taj. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been called by many the most beautiful building in the world. I’ve seen the pictures all my life and thought “nice”, but is it really worth the hype? I have to say that words and pictures cannot do this place justice. It’s so absolutely spectacular that I actually had a tear come out of one of my eyes. It looks white in photos, but in person it’s so much more. There is so much intricate carving in the marble and so many gems inlaid into flower patterns, that it sparkles when the sun hits it just right. Everything is in perfect symmetry including the wall surrounding the complex and all of its gates. One of the two buildings directly to the side is a mosque and each of those buildings frame the Taj through it’s main openings just perfectly. Fantastic picture taking. If only I had a better camera.

No one is allowed to take photos inside the crypt, but how spectacular. Inside there is a marble lattice fencing carved with such detail and inlaid with gems from all over. The two coffins (one is the shah who built the place and the other is his favorite wife). Again, all in white marble with carvings and inlaid gemstones. There’s only natural light, so I came back in 3 times to see it as the sun got higher and higher. I feel like I saw 3 different places. The largest onion dome is above, many stories up. The acoustics are phenominal. At one point, the muslim call to prayer started and the sound just rumbled and echoed inside. It was spectacular, to say the least. I sat outside and hung out for over 3 hours. It’s just so beautiful. If I wasn’t getting hungry, I probably would have stayed another 3 hours.

The most interesting thing to me were the visitors. More than half were Indians. I was surprised and happy to see that us tourists were a minority. So refreshing! But something else surprised me – so many Indians asked if they could take a picture with me. Weird huh? From a family with a little boy to a dozen or so Sikh’s that all fought over who would get to stand next to me. I don’t understand the fascination, but I must have posed for pictures with Indians at least 8 times or so. I hope their cameras didn’t break.

This was the best birthday present I could have given myself.