Our Trip to India - Part 5 of 6 : Taj Mahal

Awakening in Agra was awesome!  Daylight brightened our room, the pool readied for morning swimmers, and birds cackled.  I noticed that India lacks the songbirds found in North America; their birds cackle like those of Dallas, TX.  Starting our day with fitness, we had a lot to admire.

I showered and walked under the colonnade to the lounge.  A curious hostess came over to inquire if I wanted breakfast; the dining room had just opened.  As I approached, a chef was passing, but he paused to open the door for me--even though it was outside of his normal duties.  Such hospitality.

Guests sat everywhere, and our own group was sprinkled throughout the room.  I chose a deuce and awaited Lewis.  A young waiter appeared at my side.  He was so handsome that I could've melted to him.  With polite diction, he asked if he could get me anything.  Unlike how Manhattan bosses hire air-headed models, this hotel's staff actually graduated from hospitality training.  I wanted to try the Assam tea that India is famous for.  He delivered a warmed cup/saucer and poured some.  No sooner had he finished when I smelled chai tea from another table.  As if telepathic, my waiter smiled and shyly asked if I would also want to try that kind of tea.  Yes!  (and please come back to my hotel room, ha ha).

He dutifully fetched some, blended it himself in the warm milk, and even grated ginger on top--which he mentioned to me.  He gently left the teapot on my table, placed his hands together over his chest, bowed his smiling head, and departed... glad that he had brightened my morning.

Jimmy corralled everyone--even a pair of late sleepers--onto the bus, the attendant handed out chilled bottles of water, and the driver skillfully sped to the Taj Mahal.  Now, I must mention that Westerners mispronounce that name by saying "Taj Ma-hal".  In reality, the mausoleum is pronounced "Taj Ma-hel".  We learn something new daily.

Seeing how air pollution damaged the Taj's marble, the Indian government forced Big Business factories to relocate far away from the site, and it banned gasoline-engine vehicles from getting too close.  Such perservationsim would NEVER occur in capitalistic "first-world countries".  A thorough cleaning/scrubbing restored the Taj Mahal to its brilliance.  That is befitting its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Thus, we left our bus at the outskirts of the historic site and took a pair of electric shuttles to the Taj's entrance gates.  Throughout our trip, we observed many electric vehicles parked at charging stations: ambulances, scooters, vans, and cars.  Way more than I see in the United States.

As seen above, the sun was just beginning the brighten the ancient stones and sparkle on the Taj's white dome!  Thanks to Jimmy's impeccable timing and knowledge (from doing this excursion 500 times), we arrived at the Taj to see it glisten and gleam in the morning sunshine!  So great!







Begun in 1631 by Emperor Shah Jahan as a burial tribute to his empress, it might be the most perfect architectural monument.  It is the grandest structure of the Mughal Empire.  The woman's name was Mumtaz Mahal, but the building is not named for her.  Taj means "Crown", and Mahal means "Palace".

  

Below, the final arched gateway has 22 white domes above it, symbolizing the 22 years it took for 20,000 highly-skilled artisans and laborers to build the Taj.  From inside, you catch a glimpse of the Taj Mahal looming ahead in splendor.  

12,000 visitors see it every day.  We chose the perfect time of year to go--right after the rainy monsoon season--and before the peak of tourism.  Jimmy chose the perfect time of morning to beat the accumulating crowds.  Seen below, Lewis wore "culturally appropriate" wide-leg pants for the occasion!





Seventeenth-century engineers managed to alter water pressure to keep all the fountain sprays at equal height--from the vantage point of the entranceway--despite their distance.





The minarets angle outward by 5-degrees so they'll fall away from the building during any earthquakes.  The foundation for the whole thing rests on wooden pillars, which are kept moist/strong by the Jamuna River behind the Taj.




Nearly twenty meters taller than Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, the structure looks truly magnificent when you are up-close.  





Around the archways are panels of scripture--made of inlaid marble.  INLAID MARBLE made to look like script!  To maintain the illusion that the writing stays uniform--despite the distance from your eyes at the top--the writing was ENLARGED as it rose!  Stupendous engineering!

     Lewis and I joined the long queue to enter the Taj Mahal, and we admired the interior, where the emperor and empress are entombed.  Muslim graves are not highly-decorated, so the crypt is simple.

WWII defenders disguised the huge white dome, to hide it from aerial bombers.





Nowadays, its a heavenly dreamy place to gather and meet global guests.









Below, schoolboys from another part of India actually came over to Lewis and I, introduced themselves, and asked where we were from.  They expressed honored thanks that we travelled so far to visit their country and witness "the Taj".  
My heartstrings were ebullient!



They also asked if it was okay to take a picture with us, with their phone/cameras.  In fact, boys approached me several times to take a picture with me.  It was sweetly lovely... and such an unexpected form of flattery.







Indian men are intimately sociable, and they're not afraid of embracing their buddies or putting arms around their friends... or holding a friend's hand.  Indian masculinity isn't challenged by expressing fondness for a male companion.  Here's what we saw around the Taj: a monument of Love for one another...













(Also recall the TV shot from yesterday's sports game).



I'm reminded to point out how impressed Lewis and I were with the slim-fitting clothes on all the young people.  In New York, you might expect an Indian fellow to dress like this...



However, the trim-limbed men had fitted shirts and pants.  





So, even poorer men dressed better than slouchy sweatpants-wearing Americans.



The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  It is covered with 28 types of stones, including agate, turquoise, lapis, coral, onyx, cat's eye, jasper, jade, blood stone, gold stone, melachite, ajuba, Mother of Pearl, sandstone, slate, and marble.  Carnelian was used on the reddish flowers.  
It is a translucent red stone that illuminates when direct light is aimed on it.  



To see firsthand how it was decorated, we visited Kalakriti Marble Workshop.  The owner proudly let us watch how generations of artisanal families use centuries-old techniques   They take chips of stones, group them by color shades, shape them against a sanding stone (they also lose their fingerprints that way), carve niches for each shaped stone, insert them with putty, and polish... each creation!





No machines are used... only the touch of talented fingers.







Above, the reddish covering protects the eyes of craftsmen against glare off the white marble.  It is removed, upon completion.  Below, you can admire the carnelian stones. 






We purchased a white marble statue of horse for Lewis, whose Chinese zodiac sign is a horse.  (It now stands on my bookcase beside the petrified wood statue of horse that we bought in the Dominican Republic, last year).  *To see that trip, go here:

https://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2017/10/dominican-republic-vacation.html

We also bought the last marble box (available that day) that included every stone used in the Taj Mahal.  Unlike the geometric-patterned boxes, ours has inlay art of a "lucky" elephant, and a bird.  Despite being made of stone, it illuminates when there is a candle inside, and the sides have see-through latticework, which feeds air to the flame.  The lid contains a red flower made of carnelian, which lets the light shine through it!  Marvelous!

Under the noontime sunshine, we departed... past increasing traffic of jarring horn honking, some wandering cows, and a musical "color parade"!

We returned to the hotel for lunch.  

The second half of our exciting day comes in the next part!