...but you have to see the Taj Mahal

Our fourth stop was in Agra, the 'but' city. I call it that because everyone, Indian and traveller alike, will tell you what an unpleasant place it is, only to add "but you have to see the Taj Mahal". Following the spirit of the earlier India posts, this would be where I discredit this unfair myth and talk about how Agra is not really so bad. Let me tell you right now, that is not going to happen. The warnings and disclaimers are there for a reason.

To begin with, Agra has to be one of the smoggiest cities I have ever seen. It's so bad that when we got off the train, we were sure there was a fire raging nearby. Our driver assured us there was no fire, this is just what the air in Agra looks like, air with the consistency of pea soup. Later, we went to a rooftop cafe that promised a Taj view and had to ask where, exactly, the Taj was. When someone pointed, all we saw was haze, no Taj. It didn't help that, even though it is the one building that everyone thinks of when you mention India, it is not lit up at night.

Then, there's the touts. If there is a tout university, it is located in Agra. They are the most relentless, annoying vendors we encountered in all of India. Walking through down the road leading up to the Taj is akin to walking through a swarm of mosquitoes without the benefit of any repellent. We were staying near one of the entrances, so I figured I would stroll to the end of the block to buy a postcard. I had resort to waving my arms like a madwoman, repeating "no thank you, no thank you, no thank you" over and over again just to get to the store and back.

The city is industrial, crowded and unattractive. The park behind the Taj that promises great views is actually a homeless tent city facing a river that has long ago dried up and the view is obstructed by, you guessed it, smog.

BUT...in spite of all this and against all expectations, the Taj Mahal still manages to live up to the hype. It is not that I expected it to be a dud, it's just that I did not think that, after seeing the iconic image so many times, it would still have the power to awe . But, oh, did it ever. Entering through the eastern gate, the moment the Taj came into full view, I gasped. Not figuratively, I audibly gasped. It was emerging from the early morning fog, looking like a wonderfully delicate pastry floating amidst the clouds. It was both real and surreal. It was impossible to take one's eyes off of it.

It was built over a period of twenty-two years as a mausoleum by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during child birth. It is widely regarded as a monument to love, which is really romantic, until you realize that wives #1 and #2 are there, too. They had to settle for having entrance gates named after them. That's right, Mumtaz gets a world wonder and the other two get glorified parking lots. Nice. But to be fair, marriages for the purposes of political alliances were fairly common place at the time so perhaps 1 & 2 were perfectly happy to be left alone while Mumtaz bore fourteen (!) children for the Emperor.

Our guide, Lucky, explained the history of the Taj and highlighted architectural details, such as minarets that are intentionally built at an angle so as to fall outwards from the mausoleum in the event of an earthquake, a stone used in the pietra dura design that reflects light and looks like a flame and an optical illusion of the marble work that makes a plain minaret appear star-shaped. He also supplied us with another interesting bit of information. The prior evening, we had solved the mystery as to why Laura's name was eliciting giggles. The problem was that Laura sounds a lot like Loda and Loda in Hindi means penis. Naturally, this was not good news for Laura, so she attempted to double-check this information with Lucky. He shyly admitted that it was true and then tacked on the additional tid-bit that our third travel mate, Lena's name was also an attention getter. Lena in Hindi means "to take", but in the wrong context, it can also mean "do me". That sucked for them, but I felt it sucked a little more for me because I now realized that every time I had tried to get their attention in a crowded place, I had been screaming "Do me! Penis! Do me!" And to make matters worse, I had not even gotten one set of digits from these outbursts. I vowed then and there, that if we got separated, I was going to rely on fate to bring us back together lest I sound like a crazed nymphomaniac.

We knew it would be difficult to try to follow the Taj Mahal, not to mention the bombshell about my travel companions' names, but we were in Agra for the rest of the day, so we may as well try. We visited Itmad-ud-Daula's Tomb, or as it is better known, the Baby Taj. It is the tomb of Emperor Jehangir's father-in-law, who was also Mumtaz' grand-father. The heavy use of marble and in-laid stonework have earned it the reputation as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal, a title that we would hear ascribed to other buildings throughout Rajasthan, but that was most obvious at the Baby Taj.

We also took a tour of the Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan spent his final years after his power-hungry son overthrew him and locked him up. The fort is the collaborative work of successive Emperors. Akbar (who designed rooms to specifically suit his Christian, Hindu and Muslim wives), Jehangir and Shah Jahan all built additions to the fort. The styles vary but seen all together it somehow works as a cohesive whole. Now, if only the same could be said for Agra...

Sunrise at the Taj Mahal.


One of the entrance gates rising out of the fog.






This column is perfectly smooth, it is an optical illusion that makes it appear otherwise.


There are two poses everyone must do: the finger on top of the Taj trick and this one, the Lady Diana shot.


The Baby Taj.


It has the same pietra dura technique of using inlaid precious stones.


A pair of Rhesus Macaque monkeys near the Baby Taj.


Agra Fort.


The Musamman Burj was built  by Shah Jahan for his wife and was where he spent his final years.