However, despite the shroud of fog, this temple of love, which caused quite a bit of horror, is an impressive sight. The translucent marble changes the tones of white from sunrise to sunset... Yellowed at either end and whiter in the middle of the day.
Inside the Taj they don't permit photos, but I can say that it appears far smaller on the inside than it appears on the outside. It is very imposing from the outside. Symmetry, the gift to architecture that the Arabs gave, is readily apparent. So four minarets on each corner, not one, matching windows either side of centre and a central focus, the onion shaped dome, perfectly centered from wherever you view it. It truly is a masterpiece.
While we were there the fog never really lifted, but up close you can see how much work went into this building... The region is famed for inlay of stones and jewels, here the red is cornelian, the gold is gone but this enormous building is encrusted as below...
The horror comes because the artists, with years of skill, all had their hands chopped off afterwards so they could work on no other and make nothing better. The Taj Mahal is a temple to a departed wife, and like many buildings here combines Arabic and Hindu designs and motifs. The 14th chapter of the Quoran is written in and around the building, as this is the Muslim prayer read after a death.
This building is a mosque, there is an identical building flanking the other side of the Taj which is the guest house.
The Maharaja that made the Taj was going to build a palace for himself on the other side of the river... Completely black stone this time and connected by a bridge over the river so you could walk from one palace to another. But he was deposed by warring factions.... And so his life of sweet excess came to a crashing halt.
With some Macintosh magic this building will be sharper in the only partially lifted fog.... I need to retouch them when I get home...It was really tough to keep tourists out of pics here, after sunrise they arrive in droves...
This is the main gate below... We had had chai masala on the way into the Taj but had breakfast afterwards in. Nice place with a giant german shepherd, first I have seen here.
Next big thing to see in Agra is the red fort.
There were umpteen hawkers outside here, way too many, and they were so in your face. the brazen behaviour was all over town.... At the rail station the night before the beggars were really very persistent getting on the trains and into cars with you.
Here I am resting in the sun shine....
The stone carvingsoften follow the pattern of Persian carpets.
Again the idea of perfection applies, these motifs were etched and drilled into giant slabs of marble. one mistake, even after months sunk into it and it goes in the trash.
The Taj is seen in the distance down the river...
Again precious stone inlays, gold, cornelian, turquoise...
Years went into the vast expanses of marble inlaid like this by teams of workers in the hundreds. If someone made a boo-boo, the entire slab of marble was scrapped, and they all started from scratch from the beginning again... The red fort pre dates the Taj, so many that worked here worked there later.
And here is factory making to set tiny stone chips that get inlaid into marble. Labour may be cheap here but the man-hours for inlaying stone in stone so perfectly is immense, so the cost is quite large...
The inlaid inning tables are cheaper than some smaller pieces because the inlaid pieces are much larger.
But a small plate like this is in the thousands, because the work turns from months into years. the marble is the same as that of the Taj, so light shines through evenly, and so too with the inlaid stones. The red, again, is cornelian, because it is the only red stone that will allow light to evenly shine through it. The Austrian couple bought some drinks coasters and a plate thing, I think the paid near one thousand US. but they take any currency here...
We also went to a jewellery factory for a look around, then around 4pm it was time to go. Agra was a very quick stop.
Back to the railway station...these places are amazing, people peeing, rats, children begging, hawkers, avg people, tourists, criminals, rich people, drug dealers...what fascinating little enclaves of humanity railways stations are...
Because next stop is our last big stop with Gap. 2.5 hours on the train to the pink city, Jaipur.
Before the red fort, right after the post Taj breakfast, Leah and Joel had decided to break away for one last chance to see a tiger. They went to a southern park with good sighting records, we will meet them at Jaipur railway station a for the trip back to New Delhi. Delhi is our last evening together, it's all over after that.
- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on picture for larger image and gallery.
