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This post includes all of the Taj-related activities from today.
Ir was a very early day with the iPhone set for 5:00 am. A few minutes later our back-up wake-up call came from the front desk. We dressed quickly and meet the rest of the group for a cup of coffee and some Oreo-type cookies.
Click here for the detailed Agra Part 2 (Taj Mahal) Photo Blog.
We were on the bus by 5:45 am where we were driven to a marble factory parking lot, where we were moved into small electric buses. They don’t let any gasoline-powered vehicles near the Taj to protect the marble from pollution.
There were other options to take electric golf carts, electric buses or even some horse-drawn carriages. It was about a mile to the Taj entrance and we had to walk the last two blocks.
The line to get in had already started to form by the time we arrived at 6:00 am. The sunrise was supposed to occur at 6:15 and we were all anxious to get into the area. Unfortunately, this was India and they open for business when they are ready, not according to the clock.
The line started to move and we got through around 6:40 at which point the line behind us was many blocks long. They performed an airport-type inspections…no food, gum, no bags larger than a small camera bag, etc. A pat down search was mandatory with men and women in separate lines. The women were inspected behind plywood walls. It was a pretty thorough search.
Once inside we met as a group and were given headsets and amplifiers so our tour guide could talk to us all without yelling. The entrance was very high walls with a gateway and before we knew it we could see the Taj come into view in the stylish opening as the people crowded through. Then, “WOW!”.
The Taj was incredible…so big, so perfect. Very clean and symmetrical with smooth lines. Dale was almost immediately “found” or, more appropriately “hunted” by one of the “photography consultants” who wander the grounds looking for serious photographers…or ones who think they are. They know all the good spots to take pictures of the Taj and they walk you around to those spots (for a fee of course!).
While Dale was off doing that, I stayed with our group of about 20 people as we walked through the grounds and learned about the background of this magnificent structure.
In short, The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum. In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire’s period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child.
As a loving tribute to her, Shah Jahan began construction of the Taj Mahal in 1632. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. It is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish and Indian architectural styles.
After our group went through the inside of the Taj, I started looking around for Dale. We had been told to meet the group at 8:00 am in a designated location. I found Dale where we were supposed to meet and together we waited for the rest of the group.
Unfortunately they didn’t show up and by 8:15 we realized we were on our own. As we made our way out to the area where the electric cars where located we found a couple from the cruise and then found our guide! It turns out two other folks had joined the group and when he did a head count he thought he had everyone.
Back at the hotel we had a nice breakfast and then, after 30 minutes to relax, we were off on our next tour. We had multiple options on what to do next, so we opted for the tour to the Itmad-ud-Daula’s Tomb, widely known as the “Baby Taj” (see separate post for Baby Taj and Agra Fort write-up).
At 4:30 pm it was time for ANOTHER bus tour! This time back to the Taj for a sunset viewing. It was the same drill we went through in the morning, except this time, when we got on the electric bus, we discovered there was a fair going on and the streets were packed with cars, people and horse drawn carts.
Our driver had is hand on the horn most of the time…many times for absolutely no reason other than to express his frustration at not getting the entire road for himself. Finally, after a few near missed, we broke through the traffic and had clear sailing the rest of the way. At the Taj entrance we were able to go through the line quickly. There are lines for men and different lines for women. And, those lines are then broken down to Indian and “high value ticket holders”, which are basically tourists like us. Our line went quickly as most of the volume at this time of day are locals.
As this was Saturday evening our guide prepared us by telling us it would be very crowded. Once inside the complex we saw that there were approximately 100,000 Indians and a lot of them were young school children in navy blue and white uniforms. They were very cute.
We took some pictures of us and others on our tour then broke away to take some pictures hear the mosque on the left side of the complex where the light from the setting sun was now shining.
We took off our shoes and put on some disposable booties so that we could walk in the mosque area. In the mosques you can’t wear shoes and in the Taj you have to either go barefoot or where booties over your shoes.
Along the way some Indian girls wanted to take their picture with me. Dale thought they might have mistook me for a movie star, but I think it was just that the locals don’t see people with white skin very often, as there aren’t a lot of tourists in the rural areas of India.
We only had about 75 minutes in total, so when we had 30 minutes left Dale decided that he wanted to go inside the Taj, he didn’t have a chance this morning on his “photography” tour.
Unfortunately, it was much more crowded than it had been this morning; the line now wrapped twice around the entire structure…there must have been 50,000 people waiting to get in. So Dale, having been well trained by his mother, went up to one of the armed guards and asked if we could avoid the line. He said, “Yes, you have a high value ticket and can just go up to the front of the line”!
So we went to the entrance where we stood with 10 other tourist. After 1,000 school children had been sent up they stopped the flow of locals and let us squeeze in. We walked up the narrow, steep steps and then followed the procession into the main chamber that is the tomb that houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level. The surge of people went pretty quickly around the dark room. The detailed carving, inlaid semi-precious stones and the hand-cut marble walls surrounding the tomb area really blew us away.
Round and round we went, from one room to the next until we finally had some light and exited…at about 6:10 pm. We had only five minutes to make the long walk back to the entrance to meet up with our group. We removed our booties and successfully made the hike back, walked out the gate, past the persistent salespeople, and boarded the electric bus. Again we fought our way past the fair, which was now in full-blown chaos mode…great fun!
Back at the hotel we quickly showered and made our way to our buffet dinner that was basically the same food we had the night before. The Kathak dancer who performed last night showed up to deliver the Kathak ankle bells Dale wanted to buy from him. On our walk back to our room we found a local hotel worker who showed us how to use the bells. Of course everyone in India is fairly thin so he could wear them around his waist…we were thinking they would work wrapped around our ankles!