How could I leave this amazing country and not see the
wonder of the world that graces its landscape?
Two of my colleagues, Kim and
Iggy, and I decided that were going to make the trip on my last weekend day in
the country. The Taj Mahal is in the state of Uttar Pradesh in the city of Agra
which is about 3.5 hours from Delhi by a nice new highway. After a fun but late
evening with other colleagues eating our fill of grilled chicken and mutton at
a famous restaurant, Karim, in one of the Muslim neighborhoods in Delhi, I woke
up bleary eyed at 4:30 a.m. to get in our hired car (boxed breakfasts in hand)
for the journey. I don’t remember much
of the ride as I was asleep, but woke when we arrived into the town of Agra. A
heavy morning rain had cooled off the temperatures but left the ground wet and
muddy. My first observation of Agra was how packed it was with people and
buildings but also how dirty and run down it seemed for the “hometown” of the
pristine Taj Mahal.
We arrived around 8:30 a.m. to meet our guide, Wisa, for
the day and start our adventure.We left our driver and the car and hopped in a tuck tuck to
take us to the entrance. One thing that was striking was the surrounding poverty- the influx of 30,000 tourists per weekend didn't seem to be making much impact on local economy/infrastructure from what we could see- but we hadn't seen a lot of India so I'm not sure. Here is a short one minute video on what Agra town looked like from the car.
Since we were “high value” ticketholders we were able to skip the longer lines. Tickets for foreigners are 750 rupees (like 13 dollars) while for Indian nationals it’s like 10 rupees (25 cents)- so I guess that’s why we get a little bit of VIP treatment. Even at 8:30 a.m. we had quite the crowd. A lot of Asian tourists…Chinese women dressed in saris embracing India culture J
I’m not sure how to put words to the whole experience. It really is a wonder. This ode to Mum Taz, the 3rd wife of Shah Jhan, who died giving birth to their 14th child was constructed as a mausoleum in the late 1600’s over a span of 20 some years. All by hand, all without machines, all without computers to design it. It’s an amazing feat of symmetry. You enter through a green courtyard (Four Courts) which had different entrances for different classes of people. You are greeted by an amazing grand gate and introduced to the intricate hand-carved marble work. It looks like verses of the Koran are painted on to the marble. Like the flower work is also painted, but they are actually individual pieces of hand-carved marble and gemstones. Was absolutely mindboggling to think about how many hands had a piece in this masterpiece. Our guide told us that there are still marbleworkers, descendants from those who built the Taj Mahal, who still live and work in Agra in this fine trade.
You walk through the main gate and there it is. It almost
looks fake- like a movie backdrop. Is this monument real? Many people come to
watch the sunrise come up behind the Taj or experience the sparkling gems and
marble on a full moon night. Ours was a hazy morning from the morning rain. We
saw a few drenched tourists…I was glad we elected to arrive when we did though
I imagine a moonlit visit would have been just spectacular.
Amidst all the crowds snapping pictures with their cameras
and phones, I found myself tearing up a bit. Yearning for everyone to go away.
Teared up for a few reasons I think (1)
What an amazing feat of human creation. All the hands, all the labor, and how
old it was- more than 300 years old and still looking magnificent. I also kept
thinking about how my friend Terri has brought two different groups of breast
cancer survivors here as part of her Fresh Chapter Foundation work. Thought
about myself and how this time last year, going through radiation, I never
could have imagined that I’d be in India seeing the Taj Mahal a year later. I
was humbled at the power of time to heal and move you forward.
After my having a bit of a moment, we moved on past the pool and to the famous “Princess Diana” bench where she took a famous picture- and of course everyone wanted their photo taken their too. Something else was happening while we were there. Looks at me. This blond haired, blue-eyed foreigner. I caught a few strangers taking pictures of me and had two beautiful young Indian women ask if they could have their picture with me. Later it was a group of teenage Indian boys. Such a strange phenomenon. Iggy kept saying I was famous. Then they started in on Iggy- again we were quite the site…an African, an American woman, and a tall, stocky American man in a sun hat. Who knows how many photos of me are now spreading around Indian social media!?!?
The steaminess of the day was growing as we took our turn to
walk inside the Taj and see the replica tombs of the Shah and Mum Taz. With our
shoes covered (in Muslim tradition it is disrespectful to walk in a tomb with
your shoes on…so many of the Indian nationals were barefoot, most high value
ticket holders had little hospital like shoe covers. It was so crowded, hot, and loud that it
actually didn’t feel much like a respectful homage to this woman. In retrospect
I would have liked to have just sat outside on a shady bench and take in the
scene. I couldn’t imagine what it was like at higher peak times.
Some part of the Taj Mahal reminded me of Versailles. My mom
and Annie and I went to Versailles in our infamous trip to Paris in 2013. The
expansiveness, the lavishness, the grounds. We made our way out of the Taj,
took the compulsory pit stop to a jewelry store that I’m sure was giving our
guide a kickback, and then off to the Agra Fort – one of the other highlights
of Agra. The heat of the day and our dwindling blood sugar likely impacted our
full enjoyment of the Agra Fort. Regardless, it was still another impressive
feat of architecture and antiquity. You had to imagine what beauty it had prior
to the British and others stripping the walls of their decorative gold and
gemstones. But the detail was exquisite even without the jewels.
My favorite part of was the courtyard and area where a throne once was housed. It reminded me of stories we used to read in Sunday school. You could imagine people sitting about listening to music, talking, keeping cool, hearing someone important speak. Was a lovely way to finish up our 4 hours of walking around two amazing sites of Agra.
And before heading back to Delhi to shower and pack up for my 16 hours of flying home, we had a delicious lunch at THE tourist trap in Agra, but like all of my meals no matter the “class” of place- it was delicious.
Feeling very blessed and lucky to have been able to
experience a slice of India and am excited to travel back for more adventures
in the future. For all the pics, CLICK HERE :)
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