Exploring Taj Mahal in Agra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp0tD0oEYRM

When a dear friend invited me to a wedding to Delhi, I was excited to witness the event. My very next reaction was - this is my chance to see the Taj Mahal, something that has been on my list, but it always seemed so far away and requires such a long journey that I almost didn't think it was realistic that I could ever get there.

Sights

Three of us took a train from Delhi to Agra, which was about a 2.5 hour ride, and then a quick ride to our hotel. My friend, who grew up in India, set us up with a guide to speak to the history of the sight. It was already evening by the time we reached Agra, so we had dinner and the next morning, we got up very early to head to the Taj Mahal.

We were advised to go to Taj Mahal at sunrise to avoid large crowds. When we got there, we realized a lot of other people had the same idea. There was a large queue to enter and the line was split into genders. It actually did not take us very long to get through the women's line. Our guide was a man, and their line took much longer. The security process is a lot more thorough for men. Even though we tried to beat the crowds, we weren't super successful because we ended up having to wait for our guide to get through the line. By 7 AM, the Taj Mahal was within our sights. It was early enough that there was still a lot of morning haze, or perhaps it was visible evidence of the harsh air quality. At this point I think the AQI was in the 200s and quickly rising. There's a lot of visitors all day long, so if you would prefer to see the Taj Mahal after the hazy fog clears, arriving by 8AM would be better, because after about an hour, the haze burned off. Since the sight is very large, many people can spread out, to the point where it didn't feel very crowded. I actually didn't mind the morning haze. At first, I did feel I would prefer a clearer view, but there were times that I felt the foggy images gave off a mysterious look.

• Taj Mahal Throughout this trip, I had seen my fair share of red sandstone complexes with white marble. The Mughal empire sure loved to build vast complexes and structures, gardens and tombs. Seeing all this white marble was a stark contrast from the other structures that I had toured just a couple days prior.

  

  Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned this vast tomb and complex as a monument to his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

  

  In true Mughal form, this complex holds a vast garden that is split into four quadrants, and each one of those four are split into four more quadrants. A water channel runs down the middle in the North-South direction. The mausoleum itself is set ahead of the garden, flanked by a red stone mosque and a red stone guesthouse. I do enjoy symmetry, especially when done to this grand scale. It's so satisfying to see that the entire complex can practically be folded in half right along the waterway.

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Here is when dawn starts to break and the haze really starts to burn off, revealing the structure in all its grandeur.

  

  They were really into these minarets, and who doesn't love a tower?

  

  

  
  

  

  

  If this were a movie, this foggy haze would look very dramatic.

  

  

  

  Here's where we started taking a look at the inlaid marble, with a lot of intricate designs, and when the light shines just right, the inlaid pieces glow at sunset.

• Agra Fort Have you ever felt wronged by your family members, or treated unfairly by your parents to the point where you imprison them in a massive fort? I wonder if living in this huge fort was a hardship, or Shah Jahan was able to chill with servants at his disposal. Did he get to live out his last days lavishly or did he spend his days stewing about how his youngest son, Aurangzeb, imprisoned him?

  

  

  

  more beautiful symmetry

  

  more beautiful white marble structures

  

  

  

  

  What a stunning place for Emperor Humayun to have been crowned in.

Accommodations

There is plenty of space for two people, with two very spacious double beds. There's also a two seater sofa and a small daybed. We didn't spend much time lounging around since we only needed accommodations for one night before exploring Taj Mahal. Their breakfast is also not bad, and they do omelets to order.