The Incredible Taj Mahal

Arrival in Kerala wasn't until later in the day but we knew we were getting closer when we began seeing the small fishing boats off the balcony.

First stage of our three day journey was to take a bus from the cruise terminal to the airport in Cochin.  It was a little time consuming getting through immigration but hey, it was India so that's normal.  I knew we were back in the country for sure when we started to see these colorful trucks.

Cochin in known for its lakes and rivers, one of THE things to do here is to take a ride on a houseboat.  I felt badly we missed out on that.

Creepy photo here that I took in the horrendous traffic we got stuck in on our way to the airport.  Nothing like seeing a truck full of bones driving down the street!

We were an hour late leaving for Delhi on our flight from Cochin due to that ugly traffic and one of the buses breaking down.  By the time we got to the beautiful ITC Maurya in Delhi it was about 10:30 at night and the hotel had a lovely buffet dinner set up for us.  Despite the late hour we went in to eat while our guide, Deep, worked on getting our passports cleared with the hotel so that we could get our room key.

The tables were all set beautifully and there were so many choices in the buffet.  I opted to just have some butter chicken and malai kofta, the latter is one of my favorites, along with some naan and a few vegetables.  Oh were the malai kofta and naan delicious!  If it hadn't been so late I would have had seconds.  The gulab jamun they had for dessert was a treat as well, everyone that tasted it enjoyed it.

We had to be up early for a 6:30 a.m. departure so after a little breakfast I looked around the lovely grounds and interior of the hotel a bit.

It would have been nice to have relaxed in these chairs for a while.  Our room was just a beautiful and comfortable.

Here's the exterior of the hotel, a definite five star!

You knew if there were flowers I'd take photos.

Karl joined me outside for a photo op.  We had been given these marigold necklaces as we arrived in Delhi the night before.  They were will fresh enough to wear the next day.  These flowers are used to mark special occasions and are symbols of love, healing and hope.

The morning started out great, we arrived at the Delhi train station to music and showers of marigold petals.

Drummers drumming on both sides of the entrance and this pretty flowered elephant greeted us.

The red paint was dabbed on our foreheads as we headed for the train.  Placing it between the eyes signifies spiritual enlightenment and is supposed to help with concentration.

Not sure why I ended up with so many petals in my hair but there were too many to brush off so I just let them stick and fall as they may.  The cute older man I was sitting by on the train suggested I might want to get rid of them before we reached Agra but I just let them stay put.  It was pretty funny, friends kept saying, "Your hair!" and smiled.

Each of the seats had these cloth labels on the headrests.  Karl brought along several of them when we exited the train as souvenirs/handkerchiefs.  Our journey to Agra was supposed to take about 2.5 hours on our chartered train, it ended up taking about that long just to get our of the train station in Delhi, it was truly a trip of stops and starts, not the "bullet" trail that we were told it would be.  Crazy thing was, no one could explain why we kept getting delayed.

While there were some who were frustrated by the slow going there were others who looked at it as a great opportunity to get a glimpse into some real life in India.  My thanks to Mark Sweetman for the photos in these collages that show some of the scenes along the route.

India is India and you always have to be patient, realizing that things don't happen the same way that they do in the west.  And isn't that a big part of the reason for travel, to learn about the way other people live, to go with their flow and enjoy the experience? We had a great time, napping, chatting with people, watching the world go by.  And we got to Agra eventually.

After about six hours or so we hurried, sort of, off the train at the Agra Railway Station.  We knew at this point that we would no longer have time to visit the Agra Red Fort but we'd still make it to the Taj Mahal, which was why we'd come this far.

So it was farewell to our train car.  And after our experience it was going to be a no go on the train for the next group of cruisers heading here from Goa, they took buses both ways from Delhi.

There were lots of friendly, smiling faces welcoming us to Agra and as I walked by this family waiting for their train I asked for a photo.

Jane and I were just glad to be here in India, posing in front of the flag and getting ready to head to the Taj Mahal soon.

We were whisked away in buses to our hotel, the ITC  Mughal, to have lunch and a brief rest before going to our ultimate destination.  I have to wonder if the drummer on the left had tired in the heat, all dressed up while waiting for us, no smile on his face.  This time we were greeted as we entered the hotel with rose petals.

This kind doorman was more than willing to let us take photos of him.

Isn't this room blissful?  Well, maybe I just look at it that way after living in small cruise cabin for the past five months.  I could have happily stayed here for two or three days rather than about 12 hours, but such is the way of things.  We got a half hour of rest after lunch before it was time to go again.

We boarded buses yet again, and when we reached the parking lot outside the Taj Mahal entrance there were large golf carts lined up waiting for us to take us to the entrance.  I had to laugh later on when one of the complainers in the group said this was the best part of the trip.  Seriously?  After going through security we made the walk to the main gate, anticipating our first glimpse of the Taj.  The wall and gates themselves are things of beauty.

And we were almost there once again!

I guess now is probably the best time to begin to tell the story of the Taj Mahal.  The tale begins with Prince Khurram and Princess Arjumand Banu Begum meeting as teenagers in a bazaar where the princess was selling silks and jewels.  Some sources say it was love at first sight but alas, the prince was already betrothed to another to facilitate a political alliance.  After many intrigues of palace life, the two were finally allowed to marry several years later in 1612 when Arjumand became Khurram’s third wife and forever after his favorite.  

And as we moved through the gate with the rest of the crowd we got the first glimpse of the world wonder that is the Taj Mahal.  It's one of those "pinch me" moments when you can't believe you are really seeing something in person that you've seen pictures of all your life.  Even though this was my second visit I had goosebumps yet again.

To continue the story, when Prince Khurram became ruler of the empire following his father’s death in 1628 and was renamed Shah Jahan, or “King of the World”,  Arjumand became Mumtaz Mahal, the “Jewel of the Palace”.  Mumtaz had always worked alongside her husband, was a trusted counselor, and accompanied him to his many battlefields over the years, enduring multiple pregnancies throughout their travels.  It was near a battleground that Mumtaz gave birth to her 14th child in June of 1631, then died the following day of complications.  It’s said that a heartbroken Shaw Jahan cried without ceasing for eight days.  He then declared a time of mourning throughout the empire for the next two years during which time he began summoning artisans to build a monument to his beloved, one inspired by the Koran’s description of heaven. 

The Mughul Empire was one of the wealthiest in the world when the Taj Mahal, the “Crown Palace” was built along the Yamuna River in the then capital city of Agra.  It was the first mausoleum dedicated to a woman, one which her husband spared no expense to construct.  Masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers and dome-builders were brought to Agra from all over the empire and beyond, with Makrana marble quarried and carried from 200 miles away by 1000 persevering elephants during a project lasting about 20 years. 

To keep the symmetry on the site there is a mosque built of red sandstone on either side of the Taj Mahal.  Of the two, only one is actually used and that one is the reason that the site is closed to tourists on Fridays.

I had lost Karl so just me in the selfie.

Scenes of the Taj from the western side.

What looks like gray around the large opening are actually verses from the Koran that are done in calligraphy with black marble inlay.

The Yamuna River runs behind the Taj.  I have never seen it without the large sandbar you can see on the photo on the left.  It isn't as dirty as some of the rivers I've seen in India but it doesn't look the cleanest either.  Across the river there is a lovely garden but my photo didn't do it justice.

So many beautiful shapes on the Taj Mahal.

To enter the actual Taj you have to put on shoe covers, pass this doorway and walk up the wooden stairs.

Here are the people lining up to enter into the mausoleum. 

Detail above the entrance.

Some of the intricate carvings and inlay that adorn the Taj. The flowers and vines that decorate the building and the tombs use inlay of lapis lazuli, malachite, turquoise, crystal and amethyst to name just a few stones. 

Jane shared this stock photo of the tombs inside so I am borrowing it from her as you aren't allowed to take any photos inside of the Taj.  The actual bodies aren't buried here, they are entombed lower in the building, not visible to the public.  

I finally caught up with Karl again on the back side of the Taj.

More of the details from the exterior of the structure.

Another view of one of the mosques.

A view as the sun began to set.

This will always be a magical place for me.

The Taj is a perfectly symmetrical building made of the whitest marble in India.  The most marvelous parts of the structure to me are the incredible inlays of precious and semi-precious stones throughout.  There are no pictures of the Taj that do it justice, it is truly breathtaking.   

I can't decide if this photo or the one above are my favorites of the day.

More views as the sun was setting.

Can one take and share too many pictures of the Taj Mahal?

I was so grateful to share this experience with these dear friends.  Jane and LeaAnn, sisters of my heart, can always make me smile.  Jane titled this photo "The Marigolds".

A final glimpse as we made our way out the gates.

A few monkey antics were going on as we passed out the gates, the two on the right were scrambling up and down the walls chasing one another.

I was too tired to take more than a photo of the musicians who played for us while we ate a little dinner.  Karl was too tired to even leave the room to eat, I just went out. for a bite or two with the usual suspects.

We were supposed to be up and on the bus at 4:30 a.m. so had set our alarms for 3:30.  We ended up getting a 3:15 group wakeup call, guess the guides didn't trust everyone to be on time.  We propped open our eyes, left that comfy bed, dressed, closed our bags and wandered out to the bus for the four hour drive back to Delhi.

Some more early risers as the sun was coming up.

You can see here how air quality was not the best in this part of India, Delhi was especially bad when it came to air quality.

Imagine my surprise as we walked to the gate in the Delhi airport to see a Tim Hortons!  I had to take a picture of it to send to Aubrey.  Later I went back to get a couple of donuts.  Forgetting he was in India, Karl wanted to order a hamburger from Burger King, no beef to be found there so he settled for a chicken sandwich.

This time we left on time for our flight to Goa to meet Serenade.

Arrival here was timely and after everyone was gathered and bags collected, we made our way to to port, happy to see our home away from home.

One last photo with this magical world treasure.  Hope you enjoyed the journey as much as we did.