Taj Mahal

According to my Fordor’s India Guide: 5th Edition, the Taj Mahal was built for Arjuman Banu. She was the wife of Shah Jahan.

It was said to be love at first sight. When Shah saw her he knew that he would marry her and he was persistent until it happened. In 1612, at the age of 21, they married.

She became his favorite wife, his Mumtaz Mahal (Exalted of the Palace) and Mumtazul-Zamani (Distinguished of the Age). Numerous stories recall this woman’s generosity and wisdom, both as a household manager and as an adviser to her beloved husband. She bore 14 children, and it was in childbirth that she passed away in 1630.

“On her deathbed, it is said, she begged the king to build a monument so beautiful that the world would never forget their love. Shattered by her death, legend claims, Shah Jahan locked himself in his chambers for a month; when he finally emerged, his hair was white. Five months later, a huge procession brought Mumtaz Mahal’s body to Agra, where Shah Jahan began the process of honoring her request.”

“The construction began in 1632. It took over 20,000 laborers and 22 years to construct.
The Taj stands at the end of a large, four-quartered charbagh (garden) to symbolize paradise. Today it is green grass but when it was first landscaped the garden was filled with fragrant blossoms and orange groves. The garden extends about 1,000 feet in each direction from the small central pool.

The Taj Mahal stands at the end of the long reflection pool. A slender marble minaret stands at each corner of the platform, blending so well into the general composition that it’s hard to believe each one is 137 feet tall. The minarets are built at a slight tilt away from the tomb so that, in case of an earthquake they’d fall away from the building.

The Taj Mahal’s most extraordinary feature is its onion dome, crowned by a brass finial mounted in a scalloped ornament, which is an inverted Hindu motif of the lotus. The dome uses the Central Asian Technique of placing a central inner dome, in this case 81 feet high, inside an outer shell to attain the extraordinary exterior height of 200 feet; between the two is an area nearly the size of the interior hall itself. Large chattras (umbrellas) raise the dome above the minarets.”

That was a quick history lesson thanks to various sources and my Fordor’s.
As for my description… I’m not sure if I have one yet. The train ride to Agra is a blur. We woke up before dawn and boarded a train that left at 6:15 AM it was about a two hour train ride. When we arrived we were frantically put onto a bus and taken to our hotel. I was tired and very hungry.

I felt guilty in my relief of the luxury that we found in Agra. We stayed at a Hilton and for a moment I forgot that I was in India; it felt like I was in sitting pool side in Palm Springs. Even though I felt relieved I really missed the eccentric West End it felt more real for some reason.

The next morning we awoke late and headed out in the afternoon. It was Taj Mahal day. This was the day that I’ve been anticipating since I took an Asian Art class at East Los Angeles College. That was about 3 ½ years ago. I didn’t know when I was going to go, but I knew I wanted to see it, I knew I was going to… just not this soon.

Everything about it fascinates me; the love story, the architecture, the workmanship, the beauty… and not to mention its one of the wonders of the world.

Before heading to the Taj we visited another monument historic to Agra.
Agra Fort is another structure built by the same family of the Moghul Empire. It is made of sandstone and it is HUGE. The history behind it was amazing.

There were harem girls, a torture alter, and a few beautiful frescos still remaining in the fort. Our tour guide gave us descriptions of what it looked like when the Empire was thriving; hand made carpets lined the floors and expensive drapery covered the windows and doorways, lines of jewels strung along the sky and lined the walls.

It sounded beautiful.

After spending quite some time there and getting very hot, very sweaty, and very sticky we boarded the bus once again and headed to the Taj. I was so excited I had butterflies in my stomach.

Just outside the Taj Mahal’s entrance is a large sandstone structure that is a monument in itself. But once you walk through the doorway you can see why it sits in the shadows.

It didn’t look real standing in the huge entry way. There was almost a haze around it. For some reason the sounds changed once we walked through the doors. Flocks of sparrows flew through the sky and dragonflies fluttered about.

As cheesy as it sounds the atmosphere within the courtyard really is romantic. The heat even seemed to vanish because there was a slight breeze that cooled you off just as it began to get humid again.

As I stood there it didn’t really settle the tour guide gave us free reign for almost four hours. So I broke away from the group with my trustee camera in hand and started making my way up the long walk way along the reflection pool.

Just as I hit the center platform I began to cry. Not at the beauty, not at the magnificence of the large feat of human construction; but because I was standing half way around the world looking at the Freakin’ Taj Mahal and I’m only 20 years old.

The Taj Mahal made me realize how fortunate I am. It confirmed that all of the hard work that I’ve been doing is really paying off. It made me really happy. So I stood beside the famous “Diana bench” where princess Diana took the infamous picture and I cried, for only about a minute though because people start looking at you funny.

I continued my walk removed my shoes walked up the staircase and stepped my first step on the marble. I was really at the Taj Mahal. The marble was cool and soft against my feet and it felt wonderful.

I ran my hand all the way around its walls, I traced the intricate mosaic work with my fingers, I felt its warmth against the palms of my hands. It took me an hour to walk all the way around it.
And then I sat. I sat on the marble and stared at the dome and the birds that romantically fluttered around it.

After that I found my peers and we took a bunch of really cheesy pictures on benches and watched the sunset which changed the magnificent white to a pale pink and then a soft blue.
As we walked away I kept looking back. It was sitting there in all its grandeur so I waved.

“good bye Taj Mahal, thank you.”
Sean laughed at me but it’s okay. I really am greatful to the Taj.