Sunday Feb 10, 2008
Agra, India
We check into our hotel and were happy to find that we have the best room in the hotel. We are on the top floor in the corner facing the Taj Mahal. We leave late afternoon for the Taj. Vehicles are not allowed to drive all the way up so we drove as far as we could and then took a tuk tuk (auto-rickshaw) the rest of the way. That in itself was an adventure for us.
I had very high expectations for the Taj and was a bit worried that I would be disappointed when I saw it in person. I was not. The Taj is absolutely beautiful. I think it is even more so given that it was built as a monument to love. For those of you who don’t know, here is the story …
Maharaja Shah Jehan was the Mughal ruler of India. He had two wives by arranged marriage - Princesses of Persia and Afghani. In the Muslim tradition, women are not allowed to show their faces to men. So in order for his wives to get a chance to shop, the bazaar was brought into the palace and the shops were run by the wives and daughters of the shop keepers. It was in one of these shops that the Maharaja Jehan met the daughter of one of the shop keepers and feel madly in love. He married her after two years despite his father’s displeasure at marrying a shopkeeper’s daughter. This wife became the favorite wife. She would travel with him and she died on one of these trips giving birth to their fourteenth child which was a stillborn. Maharaja Jehan was so upset by the death of his wife and he missed her so much that he started construction of the Taj Mahal as a monument to her. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build. It is built of the finest marble that was brought in from outside Jaiper and the marble inlay work was done by artists from Persia.
The Maharaja wanted to build another monument directly across from the Taj Mahal (across the river) in black marble for himself so they would be able to face each other for eternity but his son had him thrown in jail and it was never built. We have heard two stories of why he was thrown in jail and are not quite sure which is true so I’ll tell you both versions and will confirm when I can get online to do some research.
1) The Taj was really expensive to build and to build another monument would have bankrupted the country so the son had no choice but to put his father in jail.
2) The son was greedy for power and had his oldest two brothers killed. He put his father in jail so that he could rule the country.
After Maharaja Jehangir’s death, his daughter had him buried beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal.
There are a number of reasons why the Taj is so beautiful:
1. The architecture – the unique design and the massive scale
2. The marble – the reason you want to see the Taj either at sunset or sunrise is because the marble changes color
3. Artistic touches - the incredible detailed carvings and marble inlay is beautiful up close and spectacular at a distance
Pictures definitely don’t do the Taj justice. This is one monument that you need to see in person.
Monday Feb 11, 2008
This is going to be a travel day for us. We started by visiting the Agra Fort which is where the Maharajas of Agra lived. It is a massive complex comprised of several palaces. Today, only a third is open to visitors, the rest is used by the Indian Army as a training facility.
Though the palaces had very beautiful features, I couldn’t help thinking that they couldn’t compare to the Taj.
We had a four hour car ride from Agra to Delhi and I am writing this excerpt on a train from Delhi to Haridwar. Haridwar is on the Ganges river which is the holiest river for Hindus. So far on this trip, we have seen the natural beauty of India is Kerela and the magnificent historical sites in Northern India. Our next phase will be about the spiritual side of India.
It’s been a long day and we have a 4 hour train ride to Haridwar. I’m signing off now. I’ll post this tonight if I can get Internet service from the hotel. As you can tell, I didn't get this posted in India. I am back in Austin trying to get recover from the stomach flu (or otherwise known as Dehli Belly) and jet lag. Look for my final post of Haridwar and Dehli probably by the end of the week.
Agra, India
We check into our hotel and were happy to find that we have the best room in the hotel. We are on the top floor in the corner facing the Taj Mahal. We leave late afternoon for the Taj. Vehicles are not allowed to drive all the way up so we drove as far as we could and then took a tuk tuk (auto-rickshaw) the rest of the way. That in itself was an adventure for us.
I had very high expectations for the Taj and was a bit worried that I would be disappointed when I saw it in person. I was not. The Taj is absolutely beautiful. I think it is even more so given that it was built as a monument to love. For those of you who don’t know, here is the story …
Maharaja Shah Jehan was the Mughal ruler of India. He had two wives by arranged marriage - Princesses of Persia and Afghani. In the Muslim tradition, women are not allowed to show their faces to men. So in order for his wives to get a chance to shop, the bazaar was brought into the palace and the shops were run by the wives and daughters of the shop keepers. It was in one of these shops that the Maharaja Jehan met the daughter of one of the shop keepers and feel madly in love. He married her after two years despite his father’s displeasure at marrying a shopkeeper’s daughter. This wife became the favorite wife. She would travel with him and she died on one of these trips giving birth to their fourteenth child which was a stillborn. Maharaja Jehan was so upset by the death of his wife and he missed her so much that he started construction of the Taj Mahal as a monument to her. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build. It is built of the finest marble that was brought in from outside Jaiper and the marble inlay work was done by artists from Persia.
The Maharaja wanted to build another monument directly across from the Taj Mahal (across the river) in black marble for himself so they would be able to face each other for eternity but his son had him thrown in jail and it was never built. We have heard two stories of why he was thrown in jail and are not quite sure which is true so I’ll tell you both versions and will confirm when I can get online to do some research.
1) The Taj was really expensive to build and to build another monument would have bankrupted the country so the son had no choice but to put his father in jail.
2) The son was greedy for power and had his oldest two brothers killed. He put his father in jail so that he could rule the country.
After Maharaja Jehangir’s death, his daughter had him buried beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal.
There are a number of reasons why the Taj is so beautiful:
1. The architecture – the unique design and the massive scale
2. The marble – the reason you want to see the Taj either at sunset or sunrise is because the marble changes color
3. Artistic touches - the incredible detailed carvings and marble inlay is beautiful up close and spectacular at a distance
Pictures definitely don’t do the Taj justice. This is one monument that you need to see in person.
Monday Feb 11, 2008
This is going to be a travel day for us. We started by visiting the Agra Fort which is where the Maharajas of Agra lived. It is a massive complex comprised of several palaces. Today, only a third is open to visitors, the rest is used by the Indian Army as a training facility.
Though the palaces had very beautiful features, I couldn’t help thinking that they couldn’t compare to the Taj.
We had a four hour car ride from Agra to Delhi and I am writing this excerpt on a train from Delhi to Haridwar. Haridwar is on the Ganges river which is the holiest river for Hindus. So far on this trip, we have seen the natural beauty of India is Kerela and the magnificent historical sites in Northern India. Our next phase will be about the spiritual side of India.
It’s been a long day and we have a 4 hour train ride to Haridwar. I’m signing off now. I’ll post this tonight if I can get Internet service from the hotel. As you can tell, I didn't get this posted in India. I am back in Austin trying to get recover from the stomach flu (or otherwise known as Dehli Belly) and jet lag. Look for my final post of Haridwar and Dehli probably by the end of the week.
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