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!

Agra Fort

Agra Fort.  Basically, a walled city that served as the capital of the Mughal Empire for its first fifty years.  25% is open to the public and the remaining 75% is used by the Indian Army.  Over 400 years old and still going strong.

The main gate, one of four, and only one open to tourists.

This monkey was sitting on the wall so politely...

...as was this chipmunk.

Going through the inner gate.

I love the yellow, green, and blue and wish I could have seen it in its heyday!   

The third gate.  This pathway was on a grooved incline and was very wide.  Our guide said this is where visiting dignitaries would arrive on their elephants and that the grooves were for the elephants to have a more stable footing.  How sad for us that we just had to walk up ourselves, ha ha!

This was where the imperial court used to meet.  The emperor's residence was on our left and was our next stop.

Our guide was so great and took family pictures of us all throughout the day!

Miss Celebrity Ali was asked to have her picture taken all throughout the day too.

Our guide told us that sandstone wears out after 250 years, so heritage workers create new panels when the old panels wear out.

We made it to the Emperor's residence!  I was so excited to be here as I read about this place in the historical fiction novel, Beneath A Marble Sky.  I didn't realize this at first, but as our tour progressed I recognized it.  Now I want to re-read that lovely book about the building of the Taj Mahal.  The building in the center was the bedroom of the Emperor and his favorite wife (the lady who sadly died too young and is buried in the Taj Mahal).  To the right and left of their bedroom are the bedrooms of their two daughters.  (The couple also had four sons, but they lived in different fortresses.)  I'll explain about the golden dome forthwith.  The building on the left was the home for the harem.

I want a "puzzle" garden!

The right-side daughter's bedroom.

Peeking through the arches into the Emperor and Empress' bedroom.

Inside the royal bedroom.  Wow!

Such somber little girls!

(Notice the girl on the left is wearing eyeliner.  Lots of men, women, and children here love their black eyeliner!  I don't blame them, it makes their beautiful eyes really pop.)

In the bedroom looking out at the fountain (without water now) and garden.  I can't get over the intricate carvings everywhere!

This is the fountain/sitting pool, where the ladies of the harem would cool off on a hot day.

The daughter's bedroom on the left side.  (I imagine this to be the bedroom of the girl who narrates the story Beneath A Marble Sky.)

The pollution hides it, but the Taj Mahal is out there!

Peeking out to the golden dome.  This is where the Emperor's son had him imprisoned for eight years, and he eventually died there.

Prettiest prison in the world!  And there are are no doors to this prison (or any of the rooms, but they did have curtains), but there were guards who worked for the usurping son.

This inlay work was done with rubies, coral, jasper, emeralds, turquoise, and the bright blue lapis lazuli!

We couldn't enter the prison as looters had previously removed some of the precious stones from the inlay work.  Darn thieves!

This was the Empress' shower room.  See the sparkling glass on the walls?  Again, we couldn't go in the room as looters thought the glass was diamonds and removed some of it.  Oh bother!

Leaving the residence to visit another lovely garden.  I loved the arched colonnade!

Seriously, I am in love with these arches!!

Gavin and Noé were about 30 seconds behind us, when they were approached to feed this sweet little chipmunk.

What child can resist feeding an animal by hand?  They were so excited!  Unfortunately, we weren't so excited as we knew it was just a ploy to get money out of us.  Those smiles were worth the money though!  (I'm glad neither one got bitten so we didn't have to worry about getting rabies shots, phew.)

Leaving the fort, I had to take a picture of this monkey with both pairs of his hands (feet?) crossed.  I wonder if he was the same monkey I took a picture of earlier.  Again, there were lots of monkeys, Reil children or otherwise, ha ha!