Baby Taj and the Taj Mahal (again)

Often described as a "jewel box", sometimes called the "Baby Tāj", the tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal.

It was also an unexpected gem in the dawn mists.  We had gone out early with the hope of seeing the sun rise over the Taj, the white marble being bathed in its pink glow.  But the morning mists put paid to that plan and instead our guide suggested a visit here.  It was perfect, and in so many ways more beautiful than the Taj.

And one of the best bits?  There was no one else there...they were all at the Taj Mahal.  Think we had the best choice.

Some more doors; I do like a good wooden door.

Theses strange stacks are in fact protective grass around the newly planted trees which stops the monkeys from nibbling on the young shoots. 

Let's have a closer look at the decoration.  As usual there are fretwork screens.  The walls are highly patterned, but instead of expensive and highly skilled inlaid designs these have been painted on.

As have  these designs here.

Just love this blue allium bulb.

There was a great deal of care and attention put into the planning of this building. Again the elements of symmetry govern the whole design, with arches framing the views beautifully.

Sometimes the painted panels have been restored and sometimes merely preserved.   Either way looks good.

Here we are, standing on top of a water feature...water runs of the building, through a channel in the paving, down the carved 'slide' and finally down the drain.

Gradually the sun creeps up and it looks as though it is going to be another beautiful day with bright blue skies and not a cloud to be seen.

Doesn't this just look stunning?: Agra's best  kept secret - a real gem.

The gardens have been recently renovated and laid out in the style of a Moghul garden.

As well as plenty of birds visiting, there are plenty of these cheeky visitors!

Mynah birds and parrots, accompanied by the ubiquitous pigeon, lift off skywards each time you go near.

A small flock of green parrots have decided to perch up high.

Here's Terry looking bemused that I should be taking her photograph!

Marigold garlands are piled up for sale on barrows all over the place for use as good luck symbols, to welcome you or to use a offerings.

In fact, it seems that if it can be fitted onto a hand barrow it can be sold on the street of India!  Here I think the pile of fruit are some kind of pear, which I had the other morning at breakfast and found quite underwhelming.

Camels are used for pulling carts and carrying loads, or as is the lot of this one, offering caravan rides to tourists outside the Taj.  Most of them look really surly and fed up.  Who can blame them?

I find it it a huge anomaly that a country which can be at the forefront of technology ( and providers of call centres...) is still unable to provide safe fresh drinking water to its nation.

So, we are back at the Taj, but the morning mist is still here.  On the way through the security checks ( which are evident at all the major points of interest theses days) I happened to spy a rather superior bike rack...

No....still shrouded in morning mist,

however that doesn't deter this group of young lads who were each posing in turn for their set of photographs to mark the occasion of visiting the Taj.  What make it even more amusing was the fact that after each turn they passed on the same set of aviator sunglasses and each made the same poses...

Yep, each one of them knelt down and did the moody look I front of this great monument to love!

At least this couple were married - I have become quite the sari expert.

So we thought that if you can't beat them we might as well join them:

And so did our guide, Mahmoud!

The Taj

Meet Mahmoud, our Agra guide and Taj expert and

our driver, Shyam, who'll be with us for the next week driving us all around.

Fortunately he won't be driving one of these

but an air-conditioned Toyota complete with 

the evil eye banishing chilli garnish!

Today is a story of two halves, first up: the Taj Mahal - perhaps the world's most extravagant monument of love.  Built in the mid 1600's by Shahjehan, it is a mausoleum to his beloved wife, Mumtaz.

The outer perimeters are constructed from red sandstone with white marble inlaid designs.  Terry and I are stood in front of one of the three entryways, see the two lines of domes right on top?

Look, right here, see?  Now count them, don't forget to double it for the front and back.  

Now you'll know just how many years it took to construct the Taj - 22 years.  The level of perfection demanded by Shahjehan nearly bankrupted the kingdom; so to prevent him from starting to build a black onyx version for himself his son, and heir, had him imprisioned at The Red Fort across the river.  When his time eventually came he was placed along side his wife at the centre of the Taj.

Richly decorated, with symmetry at the heart of the design, it is hard to believe it was constructed so long ago.  From the ceilings

and the inlay patterns that adorn the wall,

to the window grills and

and doors

and locks the level of workmanship was the very highest 

and really very spectacular.

If you study the floor plan you'll see that we are just inside the main gate, 

so all I have to do is turn around...

and there you see...The Taj.

Not being Royalty we have had to share the view with hundreds of others.  But it's still impressive, don't you agree?

Want to see it closer up?

Here you are - Sorry about the restoration work, but that is necessary you see, to keep the white marble pristine white and clean.

The long lake is actually empty at the moment too because it needs regular maintenance and painting.

Their scoop and fling method seems to work a treat,

because despite the actual lack of water

it can be quite hard to tell that it isn't there at all!

Let's take a closer look at the impressive facade - it's not painted, but

twinkling in the sunlight are the precious jewels which have been sliced, shaped and sunk into surface to create the most intricate symmetrical patterns.  

Every section of the Taj is adorned in memory of the dead wife.

Despite heavy restrictions on industry and polution levels the marble still needs to be cleaned.

This tower is being renovated.  To whiten the marble they pack mud around the different sections and as it dries out any polution is absorbed, falling away when dried off.  A kind of purifying face pack for historical sites!

To protect ( and I suspect to clean and polish it) visitors remove their shoes or, as we did, pop a pair of overshoes on our feet.

But with a floor made of marble and red sandstone, such as this, you don't want to damage it.

If you should tire of looking at all that marble then people watching is rather entertaining;  especially the many groups of young lads - they do like the pose...watch out for more of their antics later on!

And then, in perhaps greatest monument to love, you drop your gaze and realise that you too had been loved.

The walk back around to the main entrance was through the red sandstone cloisters -the contrast to the white marble couldn't have been greater.

 

Another one of my many door images...

and we are out and on our way to lunch.