About four to five-hour drive from Delhi, where we had spent one night and a quick drive-by of a few main sights, we arrived in Agra, where the glorious Taj Mahal is located. Part of the Golden Triangle, tourists often fly into Delhi and then drive to neighbouring Agra and Jaipur.
Waking up at the crack of dawn, we arrived at the UNESCO Heritage Site at 5:30 am to beat the crowds which generally arrived after 7 am.
A crowning glory of Mughal architecture, the Taj Mahal was constructed by Shah Jahan in the 17th century in the loving memory of his wife Mumtaz. The Mughal dynasty is a Muslim empire referring to a time period starting from around 1526 when a warrior chief from what is now Uzbekistan defeated the Sultan of Delhi with help from the Persian and Ottoman empires. Prior to visiting India, I had no idea of the very colourful and multicultural history of the country, one wrought with warfare and multiple conquerings.
Persian princess Mumtaz Mahal, was the Shah’s beloved third wife who died in 1632 during the birth of their fourteenth (!) child. As he never recovered from his loss, he set out to building the most beautiful tomb dedicate to her, on bank of the Yamuna River.
This “jewel of Muslim art” and one of the world’s most admired architectural wonders, it took more than 20,000 artisans, sculptors, calligraphers and artists from Syria, Iran, and Baluchistan, and labourers over a decade to build, costing what some say to be the equivalent of USD 800 million in today’s dollars.
There are still about 450 families, descendants of the artisans, still living outside in the surrounding area of the Taj Mahal.
The Gateway to the Taj Mahal is a very pretty red sandstone, three-story structure adorned with calligraphy, separating the gardens from the forecourt. As we enter the little gateway, we are treated to a framed view of the glorious architectural Wonder of the World.
Moving past the crowds and sounds of shutterbugs clicking away, we paused to take in the long walkway leading up to the gleaming pearly white mausoleum.
That the reflection pool was not filled at the time did not detract from the majestic tableau in front of us. The mausoleum is flanked on either side with a red sandstone structures – a mosque and matching guesthouse with white domes and white marble.
The huge dome of the Mausoleum is itself over 140 feet surrounded by four other domed kiosks for symmetry. The lower walls of the mausoleum are decorated with ‘dados’, delicately intricate carvings of flowers.
Enjoying the gardens were some pretty green parrots and orange birds as well as very cheeky monkeys bouncing around on the lookout for any opportunity to relieve tourists of their food or personal items and eating from garbage bins.
Exploring The Pink City of Jaipur
The pink city of Jaipur is in the desert state of Rajasthan (which means “the Land of Kings”), the largest Indian state by physical size and has more than 60 million residents.
The capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur was originally a city coloured in light grey until 1883 when a visit by Prince Albert spurred Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II, Jaipur’s ruler, to have the whole city painted terracotta pink to honour the royal guest since pink was the colour of hospitality.
Since then, it is apparently the law to have all the buildings and homes painted in pink, one of my favourite colours!
One of the most distinctive landmarks in Jaipur is the pink Hawa Mahal (“Palace of Winds”), a building with honey-combed façade of coral pink and white that was constructed in 1799 by the Maharaja to enable the ladies in his royal household to watch the people and life on the streets as the women were not allowed to go outside without the face coverings.
With spectacular views over the City Palace and Jantar Mantar, a very picturesque observatory, on one side, and over the bustling bazaar, on the other.
Seeing how the Maharajas lived at Amber Fort
As Amber, about 11 km north-east of Jaipur city, was once the capital of Jaipur, the Amber Fort used to be the residence of the rulers. Built in front of Maota Lake and Kesar Kyari Garden, giving it a fairytale-like look, tourists can take elephants up the hill as the maharajas once did, a controversial practice that animal rights activists abhor.
Made of pink sandstone and marble, the fort has four courtyards, palaces, halls, temples, and gardens. The mirrored walls and ceilings in Sheesh Mahal (“Hall of Mirrors”) are quite spectacularly pretty.
Despite the scorching sun beating down on us, we rather enjoyed our excursion at the fort, but were relieved to get back into the air conditioned car.
After the Amber Fort, we drove by and stopped to see Jal Mahal (“Water Palace”) on Man Sagar Lake. This red sandstone palace was built for Maharaja Madho Singh I to use as a lodge for his duck hunting parties. What’s particularly interesting is that it is a five-storied building, but four floors remain underwater when the lake is full.
Astrological Sightings at Jantar Mantar
Built in 1726 to house five astronomical observatories, Jantar Mantar is an outdoor park like area with 19 astronomical instruments in total. Combining various geometric forms, we are supposed to tell time and it is used for astrological (zodiac) purposes as well to find marriage partners.
While I had absolutely no understanding of the science stuff, I found the instruments very cool and interesting.