One Step Behind: Gems

Agra

We left Delhi early on the 2^nd and began the first leg of the famous ‘Golden Triangle.’ You start in Delhi, drive about 6 hours to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, and drive a further five hours to the ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur. Needless to say, the four of us were all excited about heading to Agra and visiting the Taj Mahal.

We arrived early afternoon, driving through the trash-infested, polluted, congested streets of Agra. It’s a strange thing, that the greatest of love monuments is located in a city that’s actually pretty gross; it’s certainly not attractive to look at, and from what I found out, the people are not friendly. Apparently, their love is for the Taj, not the tourist. Fair enough, perhaps.

One of the two buildings flanking the Taj - beautiful in their own right

To the Taj itself: it took 22 years too build – day and night – and many thousands of workers. It is made completely from white marble, and is symmetrical from all four sides. In the early evening the sun sets over the land, casting a nascent glow over the building, with the white marble reflecting the golden light of the sun. It was built as a monument to the great love that the emperor had for his wife, and is the site where they both now lie. She bore him 14 children, died in childbirth with the last child, upon which he started building the great testament of his love for her. He imported labour and materials from all over the world – Italy, Persia, Greece – and as a reward for his efforts, the head architect had his hands chopped off, so he could never design such a grand structure again!

Baby Taj

The emperor was imprisoned after the Taj was built, and spent the last days of his life on a majestic hilltop structure looking out over the Taj. How painful that must have been – knowing the love of your life is gone, and you are trapped, stuck, and can only look at what your devotion has produced, forever reaching for the love you once had.

How's that for a prison? Can you see the Taj in the distance? (and the honey bee?)

The Taj itself casts a spell over you. You can’t stop looking at it, and it holds a mysterious pull that draws you towards it. The structure doesn’t look real – more like a postcard – and it’s as close to perfection as a building can be. It’s certainly the best building I have ever seen.

We saw various other monuments, buildings and forts on our seven day tour – and whilst all were amazing and grand in their own right – none compared to the Taj.

A few quick highlights – the hilltop fort in Jaipur where we spent half our day cruising around, the monkey temple just out of Jaipur situated in deep rock canyon, and which was eerie and deserted save for dozens of monkeys (and cows walking up and down stairs), Fatepur, another grand fort located in the hazy, barren countryside, and the Sikh temple in Delhi.

I'll let the pictures do the talking from now. They're magical, really, all these feats of human greatness, and while you're in their presence you can't help but feel something of yourself let go, and the beauty taking over; but it's when you leave that you really see, and know what it is like to experience something far bigger than yourself.