The Taj Mahal - the most beautiful building in the world?

The most beautiful buidling in the world
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One simple question: Is the Taj Mahal the loveliest building on the planet?

Anyone who has seen it immediately answers with a resounding - yes!. Nothing really compares with this jewell.The architectural finesse of the Taj literally takes your breath away. Many people visit India just to see it and to my mind that is a good enough reason. No amount of crowds can detract from this luminous building. This holiday just gets better and better..

The gardens around the watercourses were green and verdant and Indian tourists took our picture at Dianas famous bench. You can climb up the plinth to the first platform and enter the mausaleum barefoot. That marble platform has been basking in the hot sun a day and is hot to the bare foot

Proof that I was there
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I got to see not one but two great Mughal monuments today - one a monument to love, the other a monument to power. Before we reached Agra we stopped off at Fatehpur Sikri. Bharatpur has a been a welcome respite from the chaos of tourist India and I was sorry to leave - though I've still not worked out what species of bird I ate last night with my butter chicken.Something from the national park no doubt. We spent the morning at Fatehpur Sikri (see review) and pulled into Agra about 1.00pm. Once again we met up in the evening when the heat subsided.

Sun sets on the Taj
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There was one small blot on the horizon as the alien microbes inherent in that butter chicken began to make their presence felt. But dosed up with medicine I was feeling good as I met Suresh. He could only park near the coach park which meant a walk through the gauntlet of hawkers and sellars but the tourist police must keep them in check because they were the least pushy I met in India. Its 500 rupees for foreigners and I joined up with a South African couple and we passed through the redstone forecourts, passed through an arch..

and then we saw the Taj Mahal..

What is immediately striking is the graceful symmetry - geometric lines run through formal gardens ending in a marble platform. Atop of the platform is a great white bulbous dome graced by four minarets. The whiteness of the dome is striking and is reflected in a pool underneath. Its just...lovely...

The gardens around the watercourses were green and verdant and Indian tourists took our picture at Dianas famous bench. You can climb up the plinth to the first platform and enter the mausaleum  barefoot. That marble platform has been basking in the hot sun a day and is hot to the bare foot.But we also were there at sunset and to see the whole thing bathed in golden light was just magical

We spent two hours enjoying the place until the light faded too much. The views of the Yamuna river were impressive and cows and camels could be seen grazing.

When I was leaving I turned around again and had one more look at the Taj Mahal. I will only be here once.

And then turned and left as the microbes were turning my stomach to mush.