8 December in Agra

This was a much anticipated day.  Today we went to see the Taj Mahal.  This meant an early start - out of the hotel at 5:45 am and then a line-up for more than 45 minutes.  The idea was to get first, or close to, in the line.  We did only have a few ahead of us but as it turned out, when the gate opened a group of French tourists suddenly appeared in the Indian citizen line and merged with us through the gate much to the chagrin of our group.  There was a certain amount of rudeness in their demeanour which didn't go down at all well.  Why was this important? well we hoped to get a photo with no-one in the foreground.
 
A guide book of the Taj Mahal  says:  "The full beauty and harmonious symmetry of the Taj Mahal, the world's most poetic building, can never be captured other than with the human eye".  With that I have to agree.  Our cameras ran hot but it is the image in my mind's eye that I cherish.

The inlaid gems in the shapes of lotus flowers and poppies are exquisite.  All the angles are lavishly inlaid with precious gems such as agate, bloodstone, jasper, amethyst and lapis lazuli, in the shape of wreathes and scrolls. On the ground level are two tombs, that of Shah Jahan and his wife, Mumtaz-i-Mahal.  On the floor below, the actual bodies are buried about 2 metres below the surface.  The purpose of the two levels of tombs is to prevent anyone from walking over the graves.

At sunrise.  The Taj appears to float in the mist.

We were back at the hotel at 9:30 am for breakfast and then out again at 11:00 am to visit the Red Fort.  The Red Fort was designed and built by the great Mughal ruler, Akbar the Great, in about 1565 A.D. It was initially built as a military establishment but later on his successors made many additions to the main structure. Several Mahals , which were built afterwards, converted half of the structure into a magnificent palace.

The Red Fort in Agra encompasses a radius of three kilometers and is bordered by a wall, which is 21 metres (70 foot) tall. Two walls made of red sandstone surround the fort. The Red Fort has four gates.

Crossing the moat to the first gate. 

This fort was designed to be impenetrable.  The most efficient way to knock down doors was to ram them with elephants.  Because of this, there are two more doors/gates built on a curve as elephants can't charge on a curve.  Next, if an invader got that far, there was a jungle garden with tigers and lions to greet the "visitor" and then yet another gate at the top of a rampart down which huge rocks would be rolled and boiling oil poured down grooves in the walls, thus causing horses to slip.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the crocodiles in the moat. We didn't see much of this fort in 1970 as it was being used by the military.

Taj Mahal in the background and the hall of private audience.  On this platform, there were thick metal loops for erecting large tents in hot weather.  There is a platform on either side, one where the Maharajah would sit made of black marble, and the other for the Prime Minister, in white marble.  At lawn level is the women's quarters and alcoves for a Ladies' bazaar where only women merchants were allowed to sell items to the Mughal ladies.

This fort was the site of an important battle in the Revolution which saw the end of the British East India Company and the introduction of direct rule from Britain.  This is also the fort where Aurangzeb, son of Shah Jahan, imprisoned his father for 7 years until his death.  Aurangzeb killed his four brothers and took the throne.  He believed that Shah Jahan's plan to build a black Taj as a mausoleum for himself across the Yamuna River from the Taj, to be too expensive.   He was held in a beautiful palace with a view of the Taj Mahal.  

The tower with the view of the Taj Mahal

Fine marble work with inlaid stones to capture the light from behind.

Inside the marble palace.  The fountain was to provide cool air.

The Jahangir Palace is the largest of the palaces in the fort complex.

The hall of public audience or Diwan-i-Aam was huge. 

Where the Maharajah sat to hold audience.

Hall of public audience (Diwan-i-Aam)

Leaving the Red Fort we had a break from Indian cuisine by visiting the Costa Coffee shop where I had an iced latte and Steve had an American coffee which turned out to be espresso.  What is worth writing home about however was the chocolate muffin we shared.  It had been heated in the micro-wave so the centre was warm and running with melted chocolate. Such decadence and such yumminess!!!!

This was a busy day.  At 3:15 pm we were at the Baby Taj.

The Baby Taj.

From Wikipedia: 
Located on the left bank of the Yamuna River, the mausoleum is set in a large cruciform garden criss-crossed by water courses and walkways. The mausoleum itself covers about twenty-three meters square, and is built on a base about fifty meters square and about one meter high. On each corner are hexagonal towers, about thirteen meters tall.

The walls are white marble from Rajasthan encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations - carnelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx and topaz formed into images of cypress trees and wine bottles, or more elaborate decorations like cut fruit or vases containing bouquets. Light penetrates to the interior through delicate jali screens of intricately carved white marble.

The mausoleum was commissioned by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, for her father Mirza Ghivas Beg,  originally a Persian Amir in exile, who had been given the title of I'timād-ud-Daulah (pillar of the state). Mirzā Ghiyās Beg was also the grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal (originally named Arjūmand Bāno, daughter of Asaf Khān), the wife of the emperor Shah Jahan, responsible for the building of the Tāj Mahal.  It was built between 1622 and 1628.

Many of Nūr Jahān's relatives are interred in the mausoleum. The only asymmetrical element of the entire complex is that the cenotaphs of her father and mother have been set side-by-side, a formation replicated in the Tāj Mahal

Millie was there too.

Looking towards the entrance gate to the BabyTaj.

And ..... then we went to a point across the Yamuna River to watch sunset over the Taj.  The cycle of the moon didn't allow us to view it by moonlight.

Didn't work all that well as Steve couldn't make his hand go flat. 

We often see side-saddled sari clad ladies as pillion passengers on bikes.  Yet strangely enough we have only seen truck accidents at this stage.

We went to the Haveli Restaurant for a buffet dinner for 750 rups for both of us.  $12 for three courses and the ubiquitous masala chai.