The Golden Triangle : Agra 2

Very bright and early the next morning, a portion of our crew headed out with our guide to the garden of Mehtab Bagh. This park sits directly across the Yamuna River from the Taj Mahal. The garden was never completed and there is a lot of speculation as to what it was intended to be. There is a foundation in place that echo's the dimensions of the Taj. The more popular camp maintains that Shah Jahan intended to build himself a twin mausoleum, only out of black marble. The other main idea is that the foundation was going to be made into a reflecting pool where the emperor could enjoy the view of the white marbled Taj by moonlight in the water. There is not enough information, archeological or otherwise, to determine definitively. Either way, the sunrise that morning gave us a spectacular show.

The mosque that is within the Taj complex

The ornate footings of the empty foundation

We went back to the hotel room to freshen up and check out. Once loaded up, we made the quick drive to Agra Fort. From our guidebook, this "first red sandstone fort of North India was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in the year 1565. Its royal audience halls, immense stone courtyards, marble mosque, and private royal chambers give us a glimpse of the grandeur and talent for the combining of defensive architecture with the beauty and design of the Mughal Empire."

Our little group in front of the famous royal audience hall. (Below) A glimpse of the white marble mosque.

Eden posing for yet another 'selfie.' She is a good sport. We always ask her permission before allowing anyone to take a picture with her. If she says no, we tell the group no. If she says yes, we stay nearby and in frame.

This is where the Maharaja and Maharani would sit during the times of royal audience (when the ministers could speak to them about common, public affairs). It is speculated that the little cubbies were filled with candles, incense, and small treasures.

The royal residential areas are beautiful. Just imagine Persian rugs, settees, oil lamps, and tapestries all about. Royal women led extremely reclusive lives - it was a huge taboo for them to be seen by anyone but their husbands. It was a rare event that they would leave these quarters, or even stand plainly at an open window. Everything they knew of the world was told to them, or viewed through screens of marble latticework.

This site has not been preserved with the same care as the Taj Mahal. But there are corners here and there where we could see just how lavish the place had been at its height.

This little golden roofed corner of the palace was where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son. He had a distant view of the Taj Mahal from his confinement.

These northern Mughal forts make for interesting studies in architecture. The middle eastern style and iconography of the Mughals are most prevalent, but you don't have to look hard to find splashes of the lacy intricacies of classic Hindu artistry.

The fort is enormous. We saw maybe 15% of the complex. 80% of the property is currently occupied by the Indian military.

After our tour, we bid our guide farewell and began the journey to Jaipur. It was supposed to be a 4 hour drive. Traffic and toll stops stretched the journey into a 6 hour affair. This triad of destinations is a very popular tourist route and midway between each of the cities in the triangle is a rest stop. This al fresco lunch was the nicest one we had.

This guy lived on veg hakka noodles and chicken strips for 6 days...

The Golden Triangle : Agra

The 4-5 hour drive to Agra wasn't bad at all. The roads we travelled on this trip were so much nicer than the roads in Bangalore. We cozied up with books, electronics, and each other and watched the scenery zoom by. We checked into our next hotel, the Courtyard Marriott Agra, had some lunch and then made the 20 minute drive to the Taj Mahal.

The Taj is surrounded by a wall of outer buildings. These are made from red sandstone and look much like the other forts we had seen on our trip already. We were there over the busiest tourist season. Just a few days earlier, over the weekend that proceeded our visit, the Taj had received over 75,000 visitors in just one day. They had to start turning people away. For the number of people swarming around, our entry was simple and quick. Foreigners can buy a "high value" ticket. At roughly $12, it is about 10 times the cost of the regular ticket. But with these tickets we were able to walk right past some lengthy queues at different points throughout the visit.

It is interesting that a building, made of ubiquitous materials in a style so typical of other structures, could attract such attention and notoriety. There was something in the air as we came through the gate and laid eyes on the full view for the first time. Without question, this place was built by absolute masters of their trades and has been carefully preserved.

We took our time wondering the sprawling 42 acres of the complex. The Taj is a large mausoleum built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, for his wife Mamtaz who died during the birth of their 14th child. The mausoleum was commissioned and completed in the mid 1600s. Shah Jahan did not get set foot in his completed masterpiece. In a storyline that seemed to play on repeat through generations of this dynasty, Jahan's son made a move for power and imprisoned him at Agra Fort. Shah Jahan had a view of the Taj from his palace prison where he lived out the rest of his days. His son did have him interred at the Taj Mahal with Mamtaz, so I guess that is something.

The sun was still bright in the sky as we prepared to climb the steps and view the interior of the mausoleum. The rules are that shoes need to be off or covered before entering. We opted to pay for the shoe covers.

There was a long line of bare footed visitors waiting to get into the mausoleum. The line wound around the main structure and down the stairs into the garden. We walked right past the whole line and directly inside. The guard at the door didn't even ask to see our high value tickets.

What we saw inside the mausoleum were two 'dummy tombs'. The tombs that actually contain the remains of the emperor and Mamtaz are stored in a chamber beneath this one. But this was the original resting place. The room is ornately decorated with lace like marble lattice work and intricate marble inlay.

The archways of the doors are bordered with scriptures from the Koran. The artists who crafted the calligraphy inlay accounted for the perspective of the viewer on the ground level. The spacing in the calligraphy grows as it climbs to the roof, thus making the writing appear even from the ground.

The sun was beginning its golden descent as we came out of the mausoleum. The fading light turned everything a shade of turmeric orange.

The complex has a large mosque and a guesthouse within its walls. The guesthouse was not open. But we were able to walk the halls of the deserted mosque.

The sun fell beneath the horizon and the world that had been glowing bronze moments before transformed into muted shades of dusk. We exited the complex and boarded a horse and buggy ride up to a marble workshop.

It is blurry, but I just love Eden's face. She isn't one to show much emotion, but couldn't contain herself with the driver handed over the reigns.

It was almost closing time when we reached the marble workshop. But they still had a few workers on hand to give a demonstration. This is a trade that his still handed down father to son. They work with hand tools, electricity not required. Pieces take months to complete.

As with other shops, we were then taken to a show room. The pieces were so beautiful and quite expensive. Cori and I came this close to buying a chessboard ($$$$).

It is extra exhausting traveling with kids. No doubt about it. But our little crew is really getting good at these adventures. They don't complain on tours and feel right at home in a hotel room.