Agra - The City of Taj

 I was quite excited in the next day because I was going  to visit most famous mausoleum in India. The 'Taj  Mahal' known as the 'symbol of eternal love' is in Agra.  This time also I opted for a tour package which covers Agra in one day. That seemed to be the easiest and most comfortable mode of transport.

Taj Mahal

 We started at 6 o'clock in the early morning from Delhi and reached Agra at around 11 am.   The journey was comfortable although it was in a bus. And I was

traveling alone. But on the way I was able to find some guys who were also traveling alone.

Agra Fort

 The tour company had provided a guide who was quite good in his job. The first destination was Agra Fort. It is quite an imposing structure located in Agra city. It is made of red stone and together with Taj is the main tourist attraction in Agra. The great Mugal kings, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangazeb lived here, and they ruled the country from here. But this fort reached it's current state during the reign of Shah Jahan.

Agra Fort

 In his last days, Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son Aurangazeb, in Agra Fort. It is believed that he died in Musamman Burj,
a place with an excellent view of Taj Mahal. He had requested to put him in a place where he could see Taj.

Musamman Burj where shah jahan lived his last days.

Other important constructions in fort Anguri bagh- a garden, Diwan -i- Am : Hall of public audience, Diwan-i- Khas: Hall of private audience, Mina masjid, Moti masjid etc.

Inside Agra Fort

Another view of the Fort

Taj Mahal

After lunch we reached the most important part of this tour - visiting Taj. We could see the long queue outside the gate. It seemed that getting inside would be biggest task in visiting Taj. To be worse, it was a Sunday also.

We entered the Taj through the West Gate; the other gates are not opened for public.

West Gate to the Taj

 The sight of the white edifice from the narrow entrance was wonderful. It was dark inside the building which functions as the gate, seeing the shiny white building from it is an incredible experience.

Taj seen from the Gate

 We spent some time by enjoying the beauty of Taj in the scorching heat. It is said that evening is the perfect time to visit here, since the moon light make it a wonderful sight. And we didn't have much time to spend, because tour company had allotted only one and half here. So I decided that next time I will come in the evening and spend a lot of time here.

The tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are inside the main dome which is the main part of the whole complex. These tombs are placed next to each other so that they will be together after death also.

 There are many myths surrounding its construction. Some of them say that the architect of the Taj was mutilated after its creation to prevent him from creating similar buildings. And some other say that he had revenged in a particular way. He damaged the main dome of Taj such that there is a leak that nobody is able to fix till now.

Taj

View of Taj from Agra Fort. Dried up Yamuna river is also seen.

The legendary Yamuna river was all dried up at that time. Initially we didn't even recognized it as a river. The Yamuna in our mind was something different.

 

We were able to visit a company which specializes in marble products. They explained some interesting aspects about marble. For example, if you put a bulb under a marble stone, the whole stone will glow as if the light filters through  it. And they showed some artists, who they claimed are the descendants of the  great workers who built Taj.

A Marble Artist

Overall visit to Agra was an incredible experience.