The Taj Mahal

Sep 2, 2016
5 min read

The drive to Agra was pretty uneventful, we stopped by this “ancient” temple…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DcmauLM3us

As we were leaving, a man came up to us and informed us he was the caretaker and asked if we would sign his book? Of course, no problem! Can you guess what’s coming up? That’s right! I clean the temple; you give me a tip? NO!

There’s another area right next to the Taj which is a UNESCO heritage site. It’s called Fatehpur Sikri and was built during the second half of the 16th century by the Emperor Akbar, Fatehpur Sikri (the City of Victory) was the capital of the Mughal Empire for about 10 years.

We didn’t want a tour guide, but our taxi driver pulled in and tried to get us to go with one of his friends. He told us it was a 1 ½ hour walk so should go in his tuk tuk, we got so irritated with his pushy attitude we said we would walk. He found this so irritating he started taking the mick and shouting about how much money we make in the UK. Charmer.

Turns out it was a 20 minute walk at most and we didn’t need a tour. Upon arrival a man comes up to us and says he is a guide here paid by the priests to tell people the rules. I was immediately suspicious because he spoke over me and clearly looked annoyed that a woman dared to disagree with him. He argued and argued that he was not asking for money, though we eventually got out of him that his family owned a shop in a far corner which he was trying to take us to! Argh!

Greg played tour guide for a bit... Apparently the king who built this place used to play Ludo using a giant board and slave girls in colourful dresses. We couldn't find the board.

Ok, deep breaths, enjoy the site. India does handle these areas entirely differently to other countries. There doesn’t seem to be any rules concerning where people can set up stalls, the steps up the main gate were covered in people, so was the entrance hall, so was the main square. We went up to the mosque and a holy man there asked me for a tip after following me around. I could go on but I think you get the idea.

It was a truly beautiful place, but the amount of hassle was too much and unfortunately we didn’t want to stay long.

Our hotel in Agra was great and we caught a sneaky preview of the Taj from our roof. We organised to meet our tour guide bright and early at 6am so we could beat the crowds, so of course went to bed nice and early… or stayed up far too late drinking beer for the first time in ages because we would be getting the train from Agra so wouldn’t be able to take it all with us.

We managed to meet the guide at 6:10am and walked the quiet streets to the Taj, he had already bought our tickets so we didn’t have to wait too long and we made it through the checkpoints fairly quickly.

Here is the story of the Taj Mahal according to the main Taj website, it’s written in such a proud, Indian style. I love it:

Taj Mahal, the magnificent monument that stands at the heart of India has a story that has been melting the hearts of millions of listeners since the time Taj has been visible. A story, that although ended back in 1631, continues to live on in the form of Taj and is considered a living example of eternal love. It's the love story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, two people from the course of history who set an example for the people living in present and the future to come. An English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold best describes it as "Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passion of an emperor's love wrought in living stones." The story that follows next will prove why the statement is true. Shah Jahan, initially named Prince Khurram, was born in the year 1592. He was the son of Jehangir, the fourth Mughal emperor of India and the grandson of Akbar the Great. In 1607 when strolling down the Meena Bazaar, accompanied by a string of fawning courtiers, Shah Jahan caught a glimpse of a girl hawking silk and glass beads. It was love at first sight and the girl was Mumtaz Mahal, who was known as Arjumand Banu Begum at that time. At that time, he was 14 years old and she, a Muslim Persian princess, was 15. After meeting her, Shah Jahan went back to his father and declared that he wanted to marry her. The match got solemnized after five years i.e., in the year 1612. It was in the year 1628 that Shah Jahan became the Emperor and entrusted Arjumand Banu with the royal seal. He also bestowed her with the title of Mumtaz Mahal, meaning the "Jewel of the Palace". Though Shah Jahan had other wives also, but, Mumtaz Mahal was his favorite and accompanied him everywhere, even on military campaigns. In the year 1631, when Mumtaz Mahal was giving birth to their 14th child, she died due to some complications. While Mumtaz was on her deathbed, Shah Jahan promised her that he would never remarry and will build the richest mausoleum over her grave. It is said that Shah Jahan was so heartbroken after her death that he ordered the court into mourning for two years. Sometime after her death, Shah Jahan undertook the task of erecting the world's most beautiful monument in the memory of his beloved. It took 22 years and the labor of 22,000 workers to construct the monument. When Shah Jahan died in 1666, his body was placed in a tomb next to the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. This magnificent monument came to be known as "Taj Mahal" and now counts amongst the Seven Wonders of the World. This is the true story of the Taj Mahal of India, which has mesmerized many people with its bewitching beauty.

Our tour guide had an addition to the story, he said one of the King’s sons had him imprisoned because he was jealous his mother had not received a similar amount of attention, and the amount of money spent on the Taj was ridiculous. When he heard the king was planning on building a “shadow” of the Taj in black marble across this river he had enough and put him in prison so he wouldn’t blow all the crown’s money.

Either way, the Taj is incredible. Obviously. Though Greg thought it was a bit small.

Albert Einstein!

The guide didn’t tell us all that much. Mostly he said that everything was symmetrical and kept using my phone to take the standard Taj pictures. Some of them ended up looking like an awful album cover…

The four towers lean away from the Taj so that if there's an earthquake they would fall away from it rather than crush it. I previously mentioned that India seems to be in a constant state of “beautification”, even around that Taj.