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Yesterday we arrived in Agra after a flight from Goa. We decided to put all the Agra, non-Taj activities, including our arrival yesterday into a separate post.
After the morning Taj Mahal visit we decided to take the tour to what’s referred to as the “Baby Taj”. It is formally known as Itmad-ud-Daula’s Tomb.
Click here for the detailed Agra Part 1 Photo Blog.
The bus ride was interesting as it went through the old town part of Agra…this is where monkeys, cows and tuk tuk’s, which are basically a motorcycle with a covered area that can seat 2 comfortably…and we saw as many as 8-10 people piled into one!
We also got to cross the river and see hundreds of water buffalos co-existing with the local laundry services. This means, washing laundry in the river and then laying out the sheets on the sand to dry. Pretty crazy.
Like the Taj, the Baby Taj has walls of white marble encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations consisting of embedded cornelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx, and topaz. Light penetrates to the interior through delicate screens of intricately carved white marble.
We really enjoyed the Baby Taj tour, not only was the bus ride entertaining (better to view the crazy scenes from the safety of a big bus), it was also a more compact site and there weren’t too many people there, unlike the Taj that has thousands of visitors a day.
We were back at the hotel in time for lunch and then more afternoon tour options. Dale decided to take a tour to the Agra Fort. It is a huge complex, complete with two layers of moats that are now empty but used to be home to crocodiles and other nasty creatures.
The fort consists of many different areas including large parks, temples dedicated to various key players of the day and the quarters in which the man who built the Taj was sequestered for 8 years before his death.
Soon after the Taj Mahal’s completion, Shah Jahan (who had built the Taj) was put under house arrest by his son Aurangzeb. This son was power hungry and not very nice…he not only locked up his father, but also killed all of his brothers. The room where he locked up his father was nicely appointed and he allowed his father to keep his harem. He also put him in an area where he had a nice view of the Taj Mahal. Upon his father’s death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum at the Taj Mahal next to his wife.