The City of Love

Marble inlay work at the Baby Taj.
see all photos »

Agra is 100km south of Delhi and getting there was a breeze. We arrived at 9:30am after a quick 2 hour train ride, the shortest in recent months.

To spice things up a bit we decided to hire a rickshaw driver for the first two days we were in town. This way we were able to avoid the harassment of the ever present lonely rickshaw driver.

The first place we visited was the Itimad-Ud-Daulah, nicknamed the Baby Taj. It was built 30 years before the Taj Mahal and seems to have provided much of its inspiration. It was the first Mughal structure to be built entirely of white marble and it was also the first to inlay the marble with semi precious stones.

The Baby Taj.
see all photos »

We spent the first 30 minutes walking around the grounds when a menacing gray cloud began to creep over the town. At about the same time Katy's camera suddenly went haywire and started taking psychedelic pictures of everything.

The dark cloud slowly turned to brown and we decided to sit down and watch it blow in. We were talking about how odd the brown coloring was when we realized that it was another dust storm. It came gusting in just as we found a decent place for cover and before long the air was foggy with dust and it had coated everything.

Dark clouds moving in over Baby Taj.
see all photos »

After seeing the Baby Taj our driver brought us to the back of the real thing for the sunset. The Taj Mahal is a perfectly symmetrical building so the view from the back is identical to the front. The best part about seeing it from behind is that it's free!

The Taj sits on the banks of the Yamun river which is reduced to a trickle this time of year. Because it was dry we were able to walk around on the river bed as if it were a giant park. We found a place near the waters edge to admire the Taj as the sun set.

Dust storm rising over town.
see all photos »

The next morning we got to the Taj at 6:15am to beat the heat and the crowds. The story of the Taj Mahal is quite a touching one. It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his favorite wife. It took 20,000 workers 22 years to build, is made of white marble and inlaid with thousands of semiprecious stones. It is considered to be one of the worlds most impressive archeological achievements, and according to everyone in Agra is the best of all 7 world wonders. It now sits as a symbol of love and is a tomb for both Shah Jahan and his wife.

Sunset behind the Taj.
see all photos »

We entered through the main gate which gives the world famous view of the Taj reflected in its watercourse pools. The closer we got the harder it was to fit it in our pictures. The monument is absolutely enormous and reaches a height of nearly 200 feet. Three identical red sandstone buildings are situated around it that are nearly as impressive as the Taj itself. Each is over 90 feet high with cavernous hallways.

The grounds of the Taj are beautiful and at nearly $20 a head there's no wonder why, but the town itself is a different story. For some reason the millions of dollars earned annually here does not make its way back to the town. The area is plagued with frequent power outages, and the roads and bridges are full of holes. One rotary had holes large enough to swallow a bicycle, while a nearby bridge had so many chunks missing that we could see down to the Yamun River below.

Aaron holding up the Taj.
see all photos »

Standing guard over Agra town and the grand Taj Mahal is the Red Fort of Agra. Still in use by the Indian Army today, only 30% is open to the public. Even so it was an impressive sight which has been used as a fort, palace, and a prison since it began in 1565. The original fort is constructed of red sandstone and the palace upgrades and mosque are of white inlaid marble. The romantic story of the Taj continues here. Shah Jahan, the man behind the building of the Taj, was imprisoned for 8 years in the marble palace building from where he could look out his window and see his wife's tomb.