Taj Mahal

We were advised to start our day with an early morning visit to the Taj Mahal, so we were up at 6am and off into thee dark and quiet streets. Subash dropped us off at the battery bus for the short trip down to the Taj, we didnt have to pay, but I think that was because we got on an empty bus and then a group also got on and I think it was assumed we were with them.

At th gates to the Taj we got out tickets and were then formed up into Mens and Ladies queues in order to go through security. You cant take in any electronic stuff, pens, pencils etc. I had to give up my felt tip pen and Brian his torch, we were able to put them in a locker, though that meant Brian had to go through the search and electronic gate again. Finally about 7.25 we were walking towards the gate into the Taj from which you get the first veiw of the building. Having seen so many photos of it it is difficult to explain how very much more beautiful it is in real life. The early morning light was pearly but with a touch of gold in it from the rising sun and the building does look as though it is simmering and floating. It is so hugh and so solid, but it does look delicate and airy.

Up close the decoration is so beautiful, every surface is patterened in some way, either white on white with delicate carving or the lovely flowers and patterns in coloured stone that you have all seen. Also the building its self isnt plain , stark white but a mirriad of shades of white, grey, buff and the palest pinl all gleaming in the rising light, just lovely.

Tess

It really is the best time to see the Taj I think (and apologies for the lack of photos but this is yet another PC that won't accept our card reader) and all the better for being relatively quiet. I first saw the Taj Mahal in 1974 and that was in the dying light of the day. I had been attending a conference in Delhi and a couple of coach loads of us set off for Agra only to find the road blocked by an accident. The coach drivers decided to take a side road and inevitably one coach became stuck on the unmade road, it took several hours to get a tractor and enough villagers to get it moving and by the time we arrived at the Taj it was closing. In those days there was just a guy on the gate, not the extensive security of today and I guess somehow ("important guests from Delhi!") we were allowed in after hours. So just a few dozen of us had the place to ourselves in the dying light of the day. I was with a young Indian woman Veena and one other person looking down that long stretch of water towards the main Mauseleum when Veeen (named after a musical instrument) began singing as we walked slowly in time along the path, a rather lovely way to arrive.

Emerging from the Mausoleum we noticed a bit of noise at the railing along the river bank. The Taj stands high above the river and we saw down at the river edge an old man shouting and gesticulating, with a small boy beside him. I asked some others what he was shouting
"he is saying if you throw down some Rupees the boy will jump up and stand beside you"
This seemed an unlikely feat given the height so I asked what would happen if you threw some money down
"The man will laugh at you and tell you what a fool you are!".

Another person in our group from Bengal told me of his first visit many years before when he was a student. It was the time of full moon and he had of course heard of how wonderful the building looks in the moonlight. As he left he asked the gatekeeper if he might return to view in the night
"Absolutely not. Garden closed. Entry forbidden".
He pleaded with the gatekeeper, telling him he was all the way from Calcutta and might not get the opportunity again. Eventually the gatekeeper relented, pointed to a small gate and told him that if he came back later, paid a little money, he might be admitted for a short private view.

So he turned up, the gatekeeper emerged from the shadows, pocketed the bribe, opened the gate just wide enough for our friend to enter. He was immediately entranced by the glow of the dome through the trees and walked forward his eyes only on the dome. But then a soft sound reached his ears and he stopped gazing at the beautiful domed building and looked about him - to see hundreds of others, sitting, standing and lying on the grass - all who had bribed the gatekeeper for a private view!

Brian

ps: we noted a comment from Mike (do we assume that is Mr Levy?) about Delhi asking if it has become more middle class since his visit in 1974. Well yes and no is the answer. There are plenty of large banks and other indications of a large burgeoning economy and I would guess all that goes with a large middle and industrial class. There are for example places like Costa Coffee in the New Delhi area and one we went into twice (it was opposite the office of the company of our driver Subash), the second time was just before we set off on our current Agra-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedebab trip and Subash has to repair a puncture. So we sat in the Costa Coffee enjoying the same coffee you do wherever you are (and at nearly the same prices) but we could not help noticing that directly across the road a parade of single story offices has a great number of people living on the roof, out in the open and no doubt one step up from living on the pavement. And we had also tried not to look at the group of crows breakfasting on a dead rat on the pavement outside. So yes there is a new trendy middle class Delhi with its laptops and coffee houses - but the crows are still feasting outside!