A Love Supreme

Trying the sitar
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By Christina

Just over one hundred miles southeast of Delhi sits the greatest of all tributes to love, the Taj Mahal. This white marble palace is a treasured icon of India and arguably one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Despite the hype (and there is a lot), it completely lives up to its billing and we loved the two hours or so that we spent exploring the Taj and ogling at its beauty.

First, let me give you a bit of history. The Taj was built by Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan, as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child in 1631. Evidently, the Missus made two requests on her deathbed: (1) that her beloved husband build a tomb to honor and remember her, and (2) that he not re-marry. Being a good Muslim, the second request was ignored, but he did fulfill her first wish. It took more than 20,000 craftsmen twenty-two years to finish the job, but the effort paid off, as the Taj is a spectacular work of art. We loved the symmetry of the building (although the position of the Emperor’s tomb prevents perfect symmetry, deliberately designed this way so as not to conflict with God’s perfection) and marveled at the inlay of semi-precious stones in the marble.

View from Agra Fort
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The Taj is not the only famous building in Agra, however. We also checked out the red sandstone fort built in 1565 by Shah Jahan’s grandfather, Akbar the Great. (The word Akbar means “great” in Arabic, so technically the guy was called “Great, the great”. This makes me think he was really something). Started as a military complex, the fort was later turned into a palace during Shah Jahan’s reign. Unfortunately for him, it was also turned into a prison when he was imprisoned there by his own son for eight years until his death. (The son was the third son, and third in line for the throne, so he was bitter). The good news for the Shah, however, was his prison enclosure featured a fabulous view of his Taj down river.

Agra Fort
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The fort is also where the famous jewel-encrusted “Peacock Throne” was located in the “Hall of Private Audiences” (where the emperor met with private dignitaries) until it was stolen by an Iranian rascal in 1739. Interestingly enough, most of the gorgeous architecture and calligraphy that you see at the fort (and the Taj) is Farsi, as the Moghuls originally came from Iran. Abby’s favorite feature, however, was the inner moat, which held crocodiles in the good ole days.

I would be remiss in not describing another highlight of our day: the discovery of a Costa Coffee around the corner from our Agra hotel. We first happened upon Costa Coffee during our trip to England two summers ago. We liked what we tasted – pretty darn good coffee and yummy panini sandwiches. We had been to the Costa down the street from our hotel in Cairo and were again pleased, so we didn’t hesitate to patronize the one in Agra, ordering up a couple of lattes and some sandwiches. I’m pretty sure this was our first decent cup of coffee since Ethiopia.

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Our first day in Agra rounded out with the kids doing some wildlife viewing from our very own hotel window, watching pigeon fights on the window ledge. It was not a pretty sight. Grayson also tried to see if his bass guitar skills would translate to the sitar….it was harder than he expected.

Next day, Dan (my hero) got out of bed and scurried down the street for lattes and muffin. Man were they good. When a sufficient buzz kicked in, we headed to a sloth bear rehabilitation center outside of town. Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering what the heck a sloth bear is. Well, prior to yesterday, I didn’t know either. Evidently, these bears have been used as street entertainment for decades by a nomadic gypsy tribe (the Kalandars), all over India, but particularly in the Agra area. The bears were usually caught as cubs in the wild with the mama bears often killed in the process. Once captured, the cubs were traded and auctioned at Kalandar villages. Then the muzzle of the cub was pierced with a red-hot iron and a rope was passed through the hole to use as a type of leash. The bears spent their lives tied to this four foot length of rope, “dancing” on their hind legs for the benefit of tourists.

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I am happy to say that India has gone a long way to eliminate this practice. Wildlife S.O.S. has rescued 450 of these bears since its inception five years ago, working with the government to locate captive bears and save them. The organization does not demonize the Kalandars, but instead provides training opportunities for new skills, in exchange for a promise to discontinue using bears. Wildlife S.O.S. is also working toward protecting India’s wild bears generally, helping to eradicate poaching and to discontinue poaching bears for their claws and gall bladders.

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Our guide at the center was a sweet young veterinarian named Rajiv, who took us all over the property to see the various groupings of bears, telling us all about them and answering all of our questions. Our favorite bear was a big puff ball (Sloth Bear fur is really thick and poofy) named Lila (which cracked us all up since one of Abby’s best buddies is named Lila!) who wrestled with a skinnier male in her enclosure. Rajiv only allowed me to take one picture, as photography is strictly prohibited – evidently, it brings back bad memories from the bears’ dancing days. So, the one picture I have (a male asleep) leaves a bit to the imagination.

Admiring marble inlay
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The place was so great that we really felt good spending a bunch of money in the gift shop and making a donation. If you are ever in Agra, be sure to take the time to visit this really special place. You won’t regret it.

Note: there are lots of additional photos attached.