The Taj Mahal in Agras
Here I am sitting on my marble and stone terrace overlooking one of the Wonders of the World — the Taj Mahal in Agra.
It’s 6:30 a.m. and the sunrise gives a different glow to the mausoleum’s marble. As I sit here the Taj Mahal seems to grow brighter with each passing minute. In the background birds are chirping away and crows are making their early morning run over the large grassy golf course below me. There’s a haze and the smell of fires in the distance caused by the burning of garbage during the night.
The morning is so quiet because the constant beeping of the car horns is silenced. The street traffic outside the fenced property is quiet at this lonely early hour. Agra has so few cars and buses that they honk their horns to alert the abundant tuk-tuk cabs, pedicabs, cows and motorcycles to move over! Even here everyone is in a rush. The city could get rich on fines from noise pollution!
Of course, for me, the Taj Mahal lived up to its hype as “poetry in marble.” I’m a romantic and the fact that the Emperor Shah Jahan built it in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during the birth of their 14th child, adds to the beauty and intrigue.
It’s actually a mausoleum where she was buried after a 22-year construction project. The white marble domed building, designed by Ustad Ahmad Ma’mar Lahori, a Turkish architect, is inlaid inside and out with flowers made from semi-precious stones.
Having been completed in 1622, many important gems were stolen from the Taj Mahal when the Moghuls were defeated and their empire ended. It took 22,000 workers, craftsmen and architects to complete the whole symmetrical compound, which includes two red sandstone mosques on the sides of the square. The horizontal tomb with latticed windows lets the light in from all different angles depending on the time of day.
We had a guide take us through the complex but it speaks for itself. After walking around inside, I just sat on a bench and took in the view while thinking about life in those times. The Taj Mahal has officially been designated as one of the Wonders of the World. It’s been photographed and admired for centuries. I think it lives up to its hype.
There are tours available at night, but you must book in advance.
But let me also tell you about the five-star hotel where we stayed, the Oberoi Amarvilas, with my room and terrace facing the Taj Mahal. I’ve traveled around the globe but never have I seen a property so perfect for its environment and a hotel so attuned to quality, detail and service.
The Oberoi Amarvilas positions itself as a haven of serenity and quiet luxury. What I loved about it was the architectural design that replicates the Taj Mahal — fine craftsmanship with inlaid precious marble, filigree wood and wood carvings, exquisite huge glass chandeliers and fine designed silk and embroidered fabrics copy the design used in the Moghul period. Even the geometric design of the Taj Mahal was duplicated at the Oberoi Amarvilas.
The best part of our experience at the hotel was the superb service from the moment we drove up through a torch lit entryway. I felt as though I was stepping back in time to a magical place hundreds of years ago. To stay there was an experience worth the 17-hour flight to India!
If you don’t stay at the Oberoi Amarvilas, you must stop in for a drink in their handsome bar with a terrace overlooking the Taj Mahal.
Agra has a second claim to fame. The Agra Fort was built from 1565 to 1573. An enormous sandstone and marble complex of courtly buildings, it gained immortality because Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his favorite wife, was imprisoned there for eight years by his son who usurped him. They say what fortified the emperor during his confinement was that his prison room overlooked the Taj Mahal and he could gaze upon the site.
Agra is about 150 miles south of Delhi and a “must go” stop on any trip to India.
