The Taj Mahal

I was so giddy when we arrived at the Taj Mahal!  I finally got to see India's crown jewel!

We felt like we had finally arrived in India!

Shah Jahan built this as a mausoleum for his second, and favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal.  They were married at 21 and 19 years old and had 14 children in 18 years (only 6 lived to adulthood).  She died at 37 years old after giving birth to her fourteenth child while accompanying her husband on a military campaign in the south of India.  So sad!  But we were here to celebrate love!

Ali was spoiled being carried by our guide...

...and her big sister.

There are two mosques on either side of the mausoleum.  This one on the east was made purely for symmetrical purposes (and was also used as a guest house), while the one on the other side is still used every Friday.  The Taj Mahal is closed to tourists on Fridays so Muslims can worship on their Sabbath undisturbed.

Lovely little details.

We're getting closer to entrance!  There was a huge crowd of people, but we didn't have to wait in that line.  See, Indian nationals only have to pay about $1 to enter and have to wait their turn.  Foreign passport holders have to pay about $20 to enter (15 and older, so just Len and I), but the perk of paying so much more is that we don't have to wait.  I'm not sure I agree with the system, but...

A truly massive building to hold two deceased lovers.

Say cheese!

The artsmanship was just spectacular.  These screens were each carved from individual pieces of marble.  If one of the delicate seems broke, the whole screen was thrown out and another one was started.

Such lovely carvings...

...and inlay work with onyx, jasper, mother-of-pearl, jade, coral, and malachite...

...and calligraphy from the Quran.

The minarets are supposed to look like ladies fingers.  While the domes are supposed to look like ladies breasts.

The sun behind the mosque on the west.  I'm so used to living where Mecca is to the east of me, but in India it's to the west.

Nice silhouettes!

More detail in better lighting.

Heading back to the entrance gate.

It was massive itself!

Goodbye lovely Taj Mahal.  You are truly a modern wonder of the world!