Trip to India and Surrounding Areas - Agra and the Taj Mahal - April 10, 2017

Our guide picked us up at the hotel at 5:30 a.m.  He wanted to get an early start because he said the traffic would be so terrible getting through Delhi if we didn't leave early.  He had box breakfasts for us that consisted of three small rolls, a banana, and a child's box drink. 

It was a beautiful time to be driving through Delhi, just as the sun was rising.

At the center of New Delhi stands the India Gate, an "Arc-de-Triomphe" like archway in the middle of a crossroad. Almost similar to its French counterpart, it commemorates the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during the World War I.

The memorial bears the names of more than 13,516 British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919.

We, also, went down a street near there that had many wild monkeys lining the street. 

 

 The military cadets were out doing their push-ups that early in the morning.

We traveled through Embassy Row in New Delhi--so many beautiful places of residence for all of the Ambassadors housed along there, as well as the Government Cabinet Buildings and President's House of New Delhi. 

After seeing a little more of Delhi, we started on the freeway to Agra.  We saw lots of fields and workers mostly working with straw.  They used a sickle and put the straw into small piles.  


Then they carried the small piles into a larger pile.  It appeared that they next brought in some kind of a powered chopper to chop up the straw for all the brick-making that was taking place in the area.

The straw was next mixed with mud to make the bricks!

Upon our arrival in Agra,  we loved seeing this country town.

 

 

 

We even saw bricks that, I'm sure, were made from the straw we saw on the way here!

After four hours of riding in the bus, we finally arrived in Agra.  I took this as we were getting off the bus.  Most of the buses have an additional person in the front with the bus driver.  By the way, this area is partitioned off with no air conditioning for them.  They actually have a little bench where they can rest on long drives.  The second person gets off the bus first and helps you down the stairs.  Pretty amazing, huh?!

Even after the 4-hour bus ride, we still weren't there!  We couldn't take the bus into the Taj area because they said it caused pollution, so we got on a small electric cart that took us about a mile and a half into the Taj. 

After we got off the electric cart, we still weren't there!  Now, we had to walk a ways, to get to the place we had now gone by ship, plane, bus, electric cart, and our own feet, to see! 

The Gate Way To The Taj Mahal at Agra, India - The Southern Gate.  

Our guide talking to us before we entered through the gate. 

 We were given bottles of water because it was definitely a steamy day!

 

 The four-story main gateway is built of red sandstone.  The entwined flowers, leaves and vines are all made by semi-precious stones inlaid in white marble.  The Arabic calligraphy from the  Quran is made progressively larger as it goes up so that from a distance, the writing all looks the same size.

Passing through the gateway, we get our first glimpse of what we came to see--the Taj Mahal!

Seeing the Taj Mahal was a thrill beyond belief!  Pictures cannot do it justice as when you are actually seeing it in person!  We were able to take several pictures, as well as a group picture, in front of the Taj. 

Our entire group taking a picture in front of the Taj.  I am, along, with three others in our group, sitting on the Princess Dianna bench--where she took her iconic picture there in 1992.  The couple at the far left--him on the top row, her on the bottom row, were actually on their honeymoon with us!

 

Our guide telling us the history behind the great love story of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who he built this final resting place for.

Our guide told us the Emperor Shah Jahan had three wives, but only the second one, Mumtaz Mahal, gave him children--14 as a matter of fact.  Our guide said, he "literally loved her to death!"  She died in childbirth when the 14th child was born.  Only six of the 14 children lived to adulthood.  Her dying words are that she just wanted him to make something beautiful where she would lie.  

He started the Taj Mahal which took 17 years to build, plus 5 more for the surrounding buildings, including a mosque to the left of the Taj and an identical building on the right to make everything balanced as you looked at it. 

In the meantime, the third son killed his two older brothers so he could be the ruler, which actually his own father had done to his brothers.  The son then put his dad in prison the last seven or eight years of his life.  His wife was buried in the basement below the main floor because Muslims don't like a lot of fanciness in their burials, but they built a beautiful cenotaph (empty tomb) on the main floor in the middle of the rotunda area.  We had to put white booties on in order to go inside.  No pictures could be taken inside, but it was quite disappointing that it was so dark inside, even though it was the middle of the day. 

When the father died in prison, the young daughter who he was very close to, got him entombed to the left of his wife in the basement area, too, with a beautiful cenotaph on the main floor, as well.  This, also, isn't Muslim because they like things to be symmetrical.

 

On the outside, the Taj is in the middle with the mosque where the Muslims can go pray (the call to pray isn't sounded inside this area), but outside this area they still do the call to prayer five times a day.  A building was built on the right with no use at all, but just to make it symmetrical.

The Taj’s entire main structure is constructed of white marble and the auxiliary buildings are composed of red sandstone. This white-and-red color scheme of the built complex may correspond with principles laid down in ancient Hindu texts—in which white stood for purity and the priestly class, and red represented the color of the warrior class.

  As can be seen in the picture, one of the minarets has scaffolding around it which takes months to construct.  This is done in order to to remove yellow stains from its white marble walls caused by air pollution.  The way this is removed is through a mud pack, interestingly enough.  The ones that were done were definitely whiter.  Some ideas have been put into effect to try to cut down on the pollution including electric powered carts to bring visitors in (like the ones we rode in), banning coal-powered industries in the area, and banning the common practice of burning cow dung for fuel, in order to reduce the carbon deposits on the Taj's walls.

  The marble structure is topped by a bulbous dome and surrounded by four minarets of equal height.  While minarets in Islamic architecture are usually associated with mosques—for use by the muezzin who leads the call to prayer—here, they are not functional, but ornamental, once again underscoring the focus on structural balance and harmony.

Again, the entwined flowers and vines with writings from the Quran written on the outside.  The reason the Taj has stayed so beautiful all these years is because nothing is painted.  It is all inlaid precious stones which never fade.

Looking back at the entrance gate from the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia.   More than 20,000 workers from India, Persia, Europe and the Ottoman Empire, along with some 1,000 elephants, were brought in to build the mausoleum complex.  In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

The interior of the Taj Mahal is quite dark with just the lighting coming in from outside.  We had to put on white coverings over our feet to enter.  No pictures could be taken, but I took this one from the internet to show what it looks like inside.  The interior floor plan of the Taj exhibits the eight levels principle, alluding to the eight levels of paradise. Consisting of eight halls and side rooms connected to the main space in a cross-axial plan—the favored design for Islamic architecture from the mid-fifteenth century—the center of the main chamber holds the wife, Mumtaz Mahal’s intricately decorated marble cenotaph (empty tomb) on a raised platform.  She is buried exactly in the middle of the octagon made of exquisitely carved white-marble screens.  The emperor’s cenotaph was laid down beside hers (and not centered) after he died three decades later which is definitely not the Islam way since they love symmetry, but the emperor's daughter wanted this and made it happen.  The coffins bearing their remains lie in the spaces directly beneath the cenotaphs since the Islam way is to be entombed without fancy or showy encasements.

Many people believe, Shah Jehan had planned to build another Taj Mahal in black marble, which was to be his own tomb on the opposite bank of the River Yamuna and connect the two by a bridge. However, the construction never got started due to conflict with his own son who imprisoned him, which took up most of his time.

"Shah Jahan’s departure from the throne was not smooth.  The emperor died not as a ruler, but as a prisoner.  Relegated to Agra Fort under house arrest for eight years prior to his death in 1666, Shah Jahan could enjoy only a distant view of the Taj Mahal.  But the resplendent marble mausoleum he built “with posterity in mind” endures, more than 350 years after it was constructed, and is believed to be the most recognizable sight in the world today. Laid to rest beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal, the man once called Padshah—King of the World—enjoys enduring fame, too, for having commissioned the world’s most extravagant and memorable mausoleum."
 
  It's so beautiful walking along the tree-lined path back to the entrance.

 The cubby holes where shoes are stored when people go into the mosque to the left of the Taj.

Red sandstone corridor walkway seems to go on forever.

Visiting the Taj Mahal was an experience that I shall never forget.  I am so grateful that George and I had this fantastic experience of visiting this beautiful place!

After the tour of the Taj, we shopped a little in the small shops where we walked to pick up the electric carts.

 We then headed for town.
 
 We ate lunch at a very nice hotel.


 After lunch, we went to a marble cutting area, then into the showroom.  The work was beautiful and the artisans were still doing everything by hand.

We were mortified when we saw this man's fingers because we thought they were all bloody.  But, he showed us that he puts something on them to handle the stones easier that he is working with.

One of the girls in our group tried the old stone polisher that you keep moving with a stick and pulley while you do the polishing.  Very tedious work!

Some of the more intricate designs can take months or years to do!

To think that each of these pieces is cut and inlaid individually is just amazing!  There were so many beautiful pieces!

From there, we went to a jewelry place that was, also, sort of a museum that had the most beautiful embroidery in 3-D you have ever seen.  The room was quite dark, and as the jeweler started talking about the embroidered picture, the lights would suddenly come up.  It really caused our mouths to drop!  "The Good Shepherd" was thought to be a dream the designer had that seriously gave you chills, it was so realistic. 

This is the gentlemen that held the door open for us to enter.  This is the traditional Indian greeting.

Pam is modeling one of the largest emeralds I have ever seen. 

This just happens to be my birthstone!  I LOVE it, but I'm not really a jewelry person.  I would rather travel!  Hah!

M'Lisa is modeling another absolutely exquisite piece--one of a kind and very expensive!

The only disappointment of the day was that everyone spent so much time shopping and looking that we didn't have time to get to the Agra Fort.  But, soon it was time to make the 4-hour drive back to Delhi where we would be staying again.  

 

 

Even with all this traffic, notice the little child on the front of the motorcycle.  Amazing!

 

At our rest stop, we saw this bus that was just packed with mostly Indian children.  Whatever they were eating, they were just tossing their garbage out the window!  But anyway, we made friends and they all came to the windows to wave at us

As we got closer to town, the traffic got worse and worse.  It was unbelievable how many cars and people were out at that time of night!  We laughed when we went down a side road and there was a toll booth just made out of ply board.  Our driver slowed down, but then just went right on.  It was just a few guys who had constructed the booth on their own and were getting money out of unsuspecting people--especially tourists, probably! 

It was nearly 10:00.  We were so tired and hot, but out Mormon tour guide had invited all 23 of our group to his home to see how an Indian family lives.  We were so happy we went there.  His wife was so sweet and had cooked a huge Indian food meal.  (We all took off our shoes to enter their small apartment/house on the second or third floor which consisted of a living room, kitchen, three bedrooms, and three baths.)  He told us that although his home was small, their hearts were big.  We certainly saw that in action.  

 

 He and his wife were so kind, as well as his beautiful daughter who would be leaving on a Mormon mission in a couple of months and their 11-year-old son.

 

  They were all so polite and kind to us.  After eating, they gave us all beautiful gifts from India.

 

Our cruise director, Pam, brought our tour guide this BYU shirt, which he was thrilled with!

We then started for our hotel and got there about 10:00 p.m.  There was so much traffic, but it was fun to see all the little open-air shops so busy with so many people out.  We were told there is really no specified closing times, but the next morning the shops wouldn't be open until 11:00 a.m.  The shop keepers went to bed late and started late in the mornings.  So tired, but such a fantastic day!