The Taj Mahal, the main site people associate with India, is obviously a must see. It’s definitely impressive, but smaller inside than I would have expected. Packed with thousands of people, the grounds are beautiful given they clean different portions of the temple everyday, keeping the stone it’s gleaming white all year round. Gorgeous flora and fauna adorn the landscape in front of the monument with a long pool running a length from the entry point to the Taj.
The main structure is a blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture, and it took twenty years to complete. It was commissioned by Shah Jahan for his late third wife in 1631, and the main building is a white, marble mausoleum. The design is extremely symmetrical with four identical sides. The dome is a seventy-five foot high marble dome flanked by four minarets on the corners. It is considered one of the best examples of Mughal architecture in the world. As such, it was deemed an UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.
Other buildings on the grounds incorporate the same red sandstone as the Red Fort, but it’s mixed with white marble. The Taj Mahal receives approximately five million visitors each year, and I can attest to the fact that there was not a single space free of other humans milling about (except of course those areas that are off limits). Any photos you see of the Taj Mahal sans people are either AI or preplanned for the area to be emptied of prior.
Upon entering the mausoleum, blue booties must be donned, and speaking and photo taking are strictly prohibited. The inside is rather dark, and quite small, but it’s just as intricate as the outer compositions.
Since there were so many people distracting the security personnel wandering the grounds, it was relatively easy to execute a handstand with the Taj Mahal in the background. I even managed to not get yelled at for doing it! Until I tried for a second attempt closer up… that one got me scolded.
Our guide had expensive tastes, and we dined at Pinch of Spice in Agra. The food was decent, but throughout the trip much cheaper, and tastier options, were available. The guide seemed to have contacts at particular higher end restaurants and always suggested those to us.
Leaving Agra en route to the next city, Jaipur, was an experience all in itself. Since this was a budget tour, we took a lot of public transportation, which is a different animal in India. Creature comforts like air conditioning and functional windows are nonexistent.
Fun facts… while at the bus station we were provided chai tea from mud mugs. We are NOT talking pretty, clean clay mugs, but literal wetted, poorly shaped dirt. The sludge mug was unceremoniously dropped to the ground once the tea was consumed. A slightly disgusted look crept over the guides face as he described the tea as, “It’s… earthy.”
The Agra bus station was the quiet before the storm. The station wasn’t particularly hectic (still packed with people because everywhere in India is), but the roads were an entirely different story. Not only were there psychotic drivers, but the route was riddled with fruit stands crowded with bipeds, two kids were playing baseball with a 2×4 and a rock on the side of the road, and apparently part of the bus flew off during the drive in a side swipe that neither party cared to stop for. On the bus, there were a cacophony of sounds, be it the gentleman toting chickens around in a cage, or the man behind me that would randomly break out in spontaneous song. Do not forget the odors wafting around the stuffy, former two-level coach bus. Someone walked the length of the people mover with a pail full of onions. Oh, and chickens trapped in a cage on the long bus ride also provided a pungent odor. While this one wasn’t a school bus in a past life, the coach still was not climate controlled, none of the windows opened, and it was a scorcher that day. Single non-functional fan was supposed to be providing air movement. Upon exiting the bus (finally), I watched a man washing the dirt from his beaten up vehicle – the ultimate exercise in futility if I’ve ever seen one in such a dusty place.
Onward to Jaipur, India and the pink buildings lining it’s busy streets.
March 2024
Whitney, I really enjoyed reading this. You captured the chaos and beauty of India so well. Your description of Agra and the whole journey made me smile, because I remember that exact mix of fascination and sensory overload. India has a way of pulling you back.
Thanks so much!! So very true… every way you looked, there was something else to see, hear, and smell.
Your photos with the flowers in the foreground are particularly beautiful – what a place to have seen. It looks so crowded, but that’s all part of the experience in India I guess!
I see that Hannah stole my answer. I was going to say the same thing about the flowers in front of the Taj Mahal, Hannah! 🙂 The mud mug – interesting. I’m sure before there were mugs that would have been very handy. I’m sitting here wondering how the lip of the mug didn’t just collapse in your mouth when you went to sip. And over here in the West we have such a glut of eventually landfill-bound plastic water bottles. Two ends of the spectrum, there. Anyway, enjoying your India stories. Keep ’em coming. (P.S. Hannah, excited to hear you’re headed there next month!)
Thanks to both of you! The flowers were a great way to block out at least SOME of the people wandering the grounds. Plastic water bottles are a no-no everywhere we went. While I appreciated the thought of mud mug, this was the least stable of the ones I drank from while in India. Many more India in-coming! Sorting through the 2000 photos I took has been the biggest challenge. I’m oh so far behind on posts/countries.
It’s a good problem to have. 🙂