The deed is done - Taj Mahal, check

"Let the splendor of diamond, pearl, and ruby vanish
like the magic shimmer of the rainbow.
Only let this one tear-drop, this Tajmahal, glisten spotlessly bright on the cheek of time, forever and ever"

~By Rabindranath Tagore (translated by Kshitish Roy) from One Hundred and One Poems by Rabindranath Tagore. Full poem 


On June 17th 1631 Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved wife of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, died while giving birth to their fourteenth child in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh. Thereafter, Shah Jahan spent more than twenty years building the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved wife. (source)

However, there are differing theories in this matter. The facts just don't add up between the different sources of information about Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal according to one blogger, who seems to have done a lot of research. He points to some discrepancies and suggests that Shah Jahan had a rather substantial number of mistresses (of all walks of life, they only had to be beautiful) whereof one was indeed his own daughter and that he built the Taj Mahal out of guilt when Mumtaz died.

The author/playwrite/expert in international affairs Dilip Hiro suggests in his play Shah Jahan-o-Mumtaz that all was not well in the lovers' paradise and questions the motive behind the building of the Taj.

"Taj Mahal Architecture :
Built entirely in white marble, its a fusion of Mughal, Persian and Islamic architecture style. The entire architectural complex mainly consists of Darwaja or gateway, garden, Masjid or mosque, mausoleum. The actual tomb is situated inside the Taj. With a hight of 213 feet, its central dome is 58 feet in diameter. It has four subsidiary domed chambers and four minarets with 162.5 feet at each corner. There is an octagonal tower at the centre with a central hall and four smaller halls grouped around it. Taj Mahal is a two storied structure and its walls are decorated with exquisite inlaid design of flowers and calligraphy using precious and semi-precious stones."

After 360 days in India (who can believe it!) we have now finally been to see one of the wonders of the world, which really is only around the corner ... well, with Indian standards anyway. I did not have any expectations, or, well, I don't know what expectations I had, but it really is all it is said to be ... and more! Look at the picture on top - the building looks like it is photo shopped in, and it looks like that in real life as well! Unbelieavable.

I took this picture walking through a gate, as did a million other people .... When I transferred the picture to the computer Taj Mahal was gone! I had to edit the picture by taking the light down 50% before it  reappeared :-) As big and heavy as it is, I still lost it - a magnificent elusive marble wonder.

"Taj Gateway - The main gate is built in red sandstone and stands 30 mt high. The walls of the gate are inscribed with verses from the Koran in Arabic. In the centre of the gateway, there is a platform from where tourists can capture the Taj on film. Originally the door of the gateway was made of solid silver and there were letters inscribed on it."

Our guide was telling us that the inlay in the red sandstone is black and white marble and that this pattern is very old. It looks modern and retro to me! Goes to show ...

Excerpts from the Quran surround the gate and to make it look the same size all around, the letters increase in size little by little the higher they are. Isn't that just amazing? Although, I suppose I should not be surprised - if they could build something as fantastic as this they were of course very bright people.

 The door that was once all covered with silver.

 Inside the beautiful floral decorations continue.

 

Like a big, fluffy meringue floating in the garden.

There are 4 pillars, one in each corner of the platform on which Taj Mahal stands. They all lean 2 degrees away from the mausoleum. Why? This is very clever, I think anyway - the idea is, that in case of an earth quake the pillars would fall into the garden and not on the building!

"Taj Mausoleum - From the garden the visitors climb on to a huge red sandstone platform over a meter high. A double stair case takes the visitors to a marble platform of about 95m square, which is the only way to reach the tomb. Each side of the central structure or the mausoleum is 56.6 m long with a large central arch. The main chamber contains the duplicate tombs of Mumtaj and Shah Jahan which are surrounded by decorated marble screens"

Absolutely every square inch is decorated with something or other.

It is not allowed to take pictures inside the mausoleum, but you can go here to see what we saw inside - replicas of the tombs. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are actually buried below, where nobody is allowed. This is presumably what they looked like while they were alive.

"The main gateway of the Taj Mahal is one of the five main elements of this magnificent monument. Adorned with Hindu motifs, the Taj gateway is a tall niche doorway in the shape of an ogival arch that rises till the mid-height of the structure. With a vertical symmetry, the main gateway of Taj Mahal stands bordered with Arabic calligraphy of verses from the Quran, made up of black stone. An optical illusion is brilliantly at play here as the size of the letters has been increased in such a way that it all seems consistent all over the arch from top to bottom. It was done by gradually increasing the size of the letters in a pre-calculated manner as their distance from the eye increased. Also, part of this gateway are octagonal towers that stand on the corners and are surmounted with broad and open domed kiosks and a heavy door made up of eight different metals at the base that are adorned with knobs." (source)
Some details of the stunning decorations of the main gate.

Taj Mahal is flanked by a red building like the one in the picture below.
"Taj Mosque - To the west of the Taj is a mosque made of red sandstone and is used for Friday prayers. An identical mosque is also built to the right of the Taj and is known as Jawab (answer). It was built to maintain symmetry. This cannot be used for prayers as it faces away from Mecca, the Islamic holy place."

Behind the Taj Mahal the holy river of Yamuna makes its leisurely way on to join the Ganges eventually.

There are so many amazing and beautiful things to see in every direction! Both here ...

 ... and there!

 

"Taj Garden - Taj gardens were designed by Ali Mardan Khan, one of the nobles of Shah Jahan's court. These were laid out by Persian garden plan style. The entire area of Taj complex is 580m by 300m and out of which the gardens alone consists an area of 300m by 300m. The fountains and running water channels are supplied with water from a set of reservoirs which are atop the rooms in the garden walls."

This magnificent garden houses a lot of beautiful species to go with the rest of the splendor.

Oh, sorry... This is what I meant to show you.

"This magnificent monument of love (or is it?) was built by the great Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his beloved wife Mumtaj Mahal. Its construction was started in 1632 and completed at the and of 1648. It was designed by Ustad Ahmed Lahauri and was completed in 22 years by the hard labour of 20000 crafts men and at a cost of 32 million rupees. Its now famous as one of the seven wonders of the world and listed as a world heritage monument by UNESCO." (source)

The compulsory tourist pictures were of course taken. We need proof, mostly for ourselves. Yes, we have been there, really. Really, really.

On our way out we had to sit down and just be quite and take it all in, well, try to. We were not the only ones. This group of beautifully colourful people caught my eye. I did not have the courage to take a picture of them from the front ...

Getting arty ...

I think we might have to let it all sink in and then go back to appreciate it even more. Does anyone want to join us?

P.S. We had a rental car, but that is not the only way to approach this truly awesome place.

Happy Holi

Believe it or not, but we are now only 3 weeks short of our first year in India! Last year we just missed Holi when we arrived. This year we certainly did not miss it!
"Holika Dahan
On the eve of Holi, called Chhoti or Small Holi people gather at important crossroads and light huge bonfires, the ceremony is called Holika Dahan. To render greatfulness to Agni, god of Fire, gram and stalks from the harvest are also offered to Agni with all humility. Ash left from this bonfire is also considered sacred and people apply it on their foreheads. People believe that the ash protects them from evil forces. " (source)

Preparations under way.

 

"Play of Colours

Great excitement can be seen in people on the next day when it is actually the time for the play of colours. Shops and offices remain closed for the day and people get all the time to get crazy and whacky. Bright colours of gulal and abeer fill the air and people take turns in pouring colour water over each other. Children take special delight in spraying colours on one another with their pichkaris and throwing water balloons on passers by. Women and senior citizen form groups called tolis and move in colonies - applying colours and exchanging greetings. Songs, dance on the rhythm of dholak and mouthwatering Holi delicacies are the other highlights of the day. " (source)

 "There is a legend behind the use of colors on Holi. According to the Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna started the tradition of playing with colors during the festival. He was jealous of his soul mate - Radha's fair complexion, because he was dark in color. The young Krishna often complained about his dark skin tone to his mother - Yashoda. To placate the child, Yashoda asked him to smear color on Radha's face, so that her fair complexion is masked. Obeying his mother, Lord Krishna applied color on Radha's face, which changed her complexion. The playful and mischievous Krishna started the game of playing with colors and this is how, the celebration of Holi with colors was started."

If you want to know more about the colours and their significance you can head over to this site.

One of our lovely neighbours - Happy Holi!

 A most colourful husband :-)

In the street was set up a contraption that sprinkled water - the rain dance floor. The water was ice cold and within seconds we were completely soaked.

Food you ask? In abundance is the answer.

And then for the desserts - no Indian party is complete without Kulfi, roughly Indian ice cream with cardamom.

At an Indian party you usually get a lot of snacks - paneer, chicken, filled mushrooms, etc. - while mingling and making the occasional visit to the dance floor. Dinner can be served any time from 10.30 pm to 00.30 am. When the guests have finished eating, they go home, hence the late meal time. However, these guests did not fancy going home ...

I was just getting dry after the rain dance when the guy to the right in the picture snuck up behind me and emptied a whole bucket of cold water over me!

Another surrealistic moment for me - dancing in the "rain" at a Holi party in India with Indians, Brits and South Africans - to Abba's Dancing Queen. The world is a wonderful place.