In fact, I balked at the idea when Jen first proposed it as we arrived in Agra the evening prior. Instead, I was intent on sleeping in, then making a very quick sweep through the Taj Mahal just to say I’d been there after which I’d retreat back to the hotel for, likely, more sleep. But, after a bit more rational consideration I eventually recanted, deciding that I couldn’t very well come all this way and not take advantage of the opportunity to see one of the world’s greatest monuments in its best light, literally.
So, at 6:00am, I found myself, with Jen & John, in front of the massive gate that marks the eastern entrance to the Taj Mahal. It’s actually a pretty sizeable complex featuring multiple immense entrance gates on three sides, a large manicured courtyard, and a small complex of outer residences.
Flanking each side of the Taj Mahal‘s main focal point is an impressive royal residence and an equally impressive mosque, both built in similar style looking almost like mirror images of each other. As we walked toward the entrance to the Taj Mahal, our guide began to explain the legend behind it which I managed to listen to despite my sleep deprivation.
 |
| From Agra (Taj Mah... |
Shah Jahal was a powerful sultan, grandson of Akbar the Great, who had four wives as was custom at the time. But, it was his first that he loved by far the most. They’d met when Shah Jahal wandered into a local market at the age of twenty and asked an attractive young nineteen-year-old woman the price of one of her pieces for sale. Both instantly smitten with each other, she flirtingly replied that it cost 20,000 gold coins, an obviously exorbitant price for the item.
Shah Jahal instantly paid her with 20,000 gold coins beginning a quick, but powerful courtship that found them married shortly thereafter. She bore him fourteen children in twenty years, but died suddenly after the birth of the fourteenth child. Upon receiving word or her death, Shah Jahal, away in Persia at the time, raced home thousands of miles to mourn and bury his wife.
Devastated at losing his beloved wife, Shah Jahal decided to honor her by building a great monument for which she would be forever remembered by anyone who came upon it. He evidently designed the complex himself with his wife’s massive burial chamber as the centerpiece, built in glistening white marble while the rest of the complex was built in a regal red-washed stone.
The burial chamber, the best known image of the Taj Mahal, is decorated with intricate bas relief carvings, magnificent arches, and laden with numerous optical illusions to enhance it‘s grandeur (i.e. four turrets that bend slightly outward…or so it seems). After Shah Jahal’s own death, his body was laid to rest next to his first wife’s and both now lay entombed in the floor below the building.
Waking up at a ridiculously early hour instantly paid off as we walked through the imposing gate to catch our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal. The benefit of seeing the Taj Mahal as the sun begins to wake is that the sun plays tricks with the Taj’s façade of white marble. As the first rays began to peek over the horizon and through the surrounding trees, the Taj’s exterior took on a light brown color like coffee with a good dose of cream.
As the sun continued it’s march into the lightening sky, the walls ran through almost every shade of white, first emerging as a creamy beige then an almost white-yellow before sun’s full power blasted off the walls showing their true vibrant pure white color. Enhancing the vision was the dew still evaporating from the gardens, as well as the river that flows to the back of the Taj, giving it a mystic quality that I’ve found to be a regular trademark of many of the world’s best landmarks (i.e. Machu Picchu).
Yet, I think the true testament of the Taj Mahal’s ability to capture the world’s imagination for centuries is that each person’s experience is truly unique. As best as I can try to explain the Taj Mahal using my most inspired employment of the English language, it doesn’t hold a candle to actually being there and seeing it for yourself.
The Taj Mahal proved a fitting finale to my stay in India. Although it did little to help crystallize a lasting, singular opinion about the country. But at least I left with an image of India’s best floating in my head.
Ultimately, I continue to think that my view of India will constantly shift between admiration of it’s stunning and varied natural beauty as well as its friendly and hospitable populace countered by frustration at it‘s devastating poverty, pervasive inequalities and vexing inefficiency. Somewhere in that mix lies the true picture of a complex country dealing with complex issues as it seeks to cement it‘s place in the modern world.
But, I remind myself that India is still a young nation, it’s only been self-ruled for the last 60 years, and much of what frustrated me is likely just part of it’s growing pains as any young nation seems to have as it finds itself. So, instead I’ll do my best to concentrate on the powerful images of India’s remarkable landscapes and people that, as always, hold the best promise for a bright future.
I’m don't know if I'll be inclined to return to India any time soon, which should not be taken as a slight on the country. It's partly because it is such a draining experience which I’m not sure I’ll be quite prepared to undertake for at least another few years and because there’s still so much more of the world to see. Although somehow, I sense it will continue to have a pull on me.
I think it could be interesting to return in another decade or so to see how, or if, the country has progressed and how that heady mix of sometimes seemingly incompatible elements has transformed not only India, but my ever-changing opinion of it.
AGRA (TAJ MAHAL) PHOTO ALBUM (click photo):
 |
| Agra (Taj Mahal) '07 |
No comments:
Post a Comment