Looking back at the pictures, I still can’t believe that we actually saw the Taj Mahal. That beautiful and unusual structure gracing National Geographic publications, making cameos in movies, popping up in geography textbooks, and occasionally appearing in history books.
But it was real, and it was incredible. I think it may be one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life (and it will probably remain that way!).
Before turning in for the night at Agra Fort, we snuck down to the backside of the Taj for some pictures and a little sneak peek at what our next tour would have in store. Even from here, there was something mysterious and beautiful about the glowing building across the river from us.
We woke up before the sun could stretch over the horizon and headed to the Taj Mahal under cover of darkness. Sunrise was supposed to be one of the best times to go because there weren’t as many people, and you could supposedly see it “glow”. I was a little skeptical about something built of out of marble in the 1500’s glowing in the dark, but I was excited to see it.
We entered from on of the main gates and were taken aback by the difference in architecture between the Taj and Agra Fort; it was like everything we had seen at the fort, but more. More ornate, more special, more perfect.
Nothing could prepare me for when we walked into the main part of the gardens. The early morning haze made it look almost like a ghost hanging over the reflecting pools and gardens.
Sometimes, I just can’t believe it was real. It was too beautiful.
Here are some quick facts about the Taj Mahal before I just spam this post with pictures:
- Emperor Shah Jahan built it for his favorite wife, the Empress Mumtaz Mahal; it took 17 years and 20,000 artisans to build.
- The white marble is incredibly rare! It “glows” in the light and is incredibly durable. In the sunrise and sunset hours, it sometimes appears to change colors.
- Originally, they were going to build a mirror image mausoleum in black marble for Shah Jahan; in a Game of Thrones-like moment, his sons overthrew him and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest at Agra Fort. When he died, he was fittingly buried at the Taj Mahal with his beloved wife.
- The Taj was built to completely symmetrical; symmetry was a key component of its design.
- Gemstones were inlaid into the marble in patterns very similar to those at Agra Fort. When the sun hits them just right, they glitter!
- The tomb is actually underneath the main area of the inside of the Taj Mahal; they open it to visitors one day per year, the anniversary of her death. (We missed it by about 2 weeks!)
- A mosque and a guesthouse flank the mausoleum. Though they have different purposes, they were built to look identical.
Interesting, right? I want to read to much more about this time and place in history after visiting Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal; the people and the relics they left behind have captured my imagination!
It was so incredible to see all of the details up close. It was already a wonder from far away, but as more details emerged up close, it kind of left me speechless. We have nothing even close to this in the United States and it was humbling to see something so ancient and so beautiful.
Unfortunately, it was forbidden to take pictures inside the mausoleum. But I’m the pictures above, you can see all of the inlay detail; imagine it everywhere! In the smallest details, all over the walls in every direction… it took my breath away.
And as we slowly descended down the steps leading away from the gleaming marble structure, the sun’s rays glinted off of turquoise, lapis, coral, carnelian, malachite, and amethyst inlaid in the side of the guest house. As if the Taj wanted to give us one more little show before we left her for the next part of our journey.
I’m still at a loss for words about how it felt to walk along the gardens below the spires of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
Maybe that is the qualification to become a “Wonder” of the world; that you fill people with such wonder, they don’t have the words to describe what they’ve seen and how it makes them feel.
With her dying breaths, Shah Jahan’s greatest love asked him for two promises. One, that he would be kind and loving towards their children and wouldn’t separate them.
Two, that he would build something the world had never seen before.
And so he did; the greatest shrine to love ever built.
Jess and the Outdoors 