The very early start was to offer three distinct advantages to us but the principal reason was that we would see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. The other benefits were that the crowds would be least at dawn and the air temperature would be more tolerable than later on where 40C was expected.
Our visit to the Taj Mahal commenced at 05:30 with a preliminary security check and we then entered the complex through the Western Gate.
The initial sighting of the Taj Mahal this morning was highly memorable as there were only a few clouds in the sky and the streaks of first sunlight cast a soft light across the glorious marble structure in front of us.
Taj Mahal in early morning light
Our group, Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal in early morning light
View from Taj Mahal to the West Gate
The name Taj Mahal means ‘Crown of Palaces’. As mentioned yesterday, it was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
This sublime garden tomb occupies an area of about 20 hectares. The building required a team of 20,000 paid artisans (definitely not slaves) working over a period of nearly 20 years before it was completed in 1648.
The very high-quality white marble was quarried 300 km away and transported to the site supposedly by a fleet of 1000 elephants! In today’s currency the total cost would be around US$700 million.
The central mausoleum is framed at each corner of the main raised platform by four white marble minarets. Each minaret is 40 m high and crowned by a chhatri (an open octagonal pavilion). One unexpected feature of the minarets is that they were built such that they are not perfectly vertical. This intended modification is barely noticeable and was done so that in the case of a major earthquake the minarets would fall away from the central tomb and prevent any further damage.
The Taj Mahal complex exhibits perfect symmetry with the central mausoleum being octagonal, with four main ‘square’ sides and four smaller sides where the corners of the square have been removed.
The internal structure of the tomb’s chamber is similarly octagonal with the geometrical centre housing Mumtaz Mahal’s sarcophagus on a raised platform next to Shah Jahan’s. In reality, these are replicas because the actual graves are in a dark crypt immediately beneath the replicas. Around the replicas is a marble filigree screen intended to veil the area of the royal tombs.
Whether you view the Taj Mahal from north, south, east or west the image is identical. The Taj Mahal is topped with a 44 m massive double-domed cupola capped with a bronze finial including a crescent moon. The original finial was constructed from 165 kg of pure (24 carat) gold which was conveniently removed sometime after 1858 when the British Crown took power in India.
The dome of Taj Mahal in early morning light
Closer examination of the walls of the Taj Mahal reveals the intricacy of the marble-inlay work called ‘pietra-dura’.
Marble-inlay work ‘pietra-dura)
The Mughals were great naturalists who believed that flowers were symbols of the divine realm. Using pietra dura the artisans created images of tulips, lilies, irises and poppies by inlaying precious and semi-precious stones such as carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise and malachite into the white marble.
Panels of exquisite Arabic calligraphy in the form of verses from the Qur’an reach up and over the entrance arches on the four main sides to the mausoleum. The text in the form of inlaid black marble increases in size as it gets higher creating the optical illusion of uniform script.
Taj Mahal
It was widely believed that the Taj Mahal was designed to represent an earthly replica of a house in paradise and we left with the impression that it is certainly one of the most elegant, harmonious and stunningly attractive buildings we’ve ever seen.
Taj Mahal
The ‘Taj’ indeed manifests the wealth and luxury of Mughal art as seen in architecture, garden design, jewellery and calligraphy. This visit has been inspirational!
With the temperature steadily rising we decided to visit the Agra Fort next before conditions became too unbearable.
The fort is situated on the west bank of the Yamuna River and was built by Emperor Akbar between 1565 and 1573.
Agra Fort
Its red sandstone ramparts from a crescent along the river bank and these mighty walls enclose a major complex of courtly buildings. A deep moat, once filled with water from the Yamuna formerly surrounded the fort.
Amongst the various buildings we visited the more impressive were the Khas Mahal an elegant marble hall with a vividly painted ceiling, the Sheesh Mahal with its royal baths and the Amar Singh Gate to the south that we entered through initially.
Agra Fort
Squirrel at Agra Fort
At this point it was 08:45 and we’d had enough exposure to historically significant grandeur and headed back to our Grand Mercure Hotel for a well earned breakfast and lots of cold fruit juice.
Our guide Pawam was insistent that the day definitely couldn’t finish until we had visited Itimad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb and how right he was. It turned out to be a visual jewel high on the list of architectural delights we’ve encountered so far.
Also known as ‘Baby Taj’ the tomb is lyrically described as a ‘jewel box in marble’!
Entrance gate to Itimad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb
It is the garden tomb of Mirza Ghiyas Beg a Grand Vizier and former Persian Amir in exile who became a minister of state in the Mughal Court. The tomb was built by his daughter Nur Jahan, the favourite wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir.
The building began in 1622 and took six years to complete. Somewhat like the Taj Mahal it is exquisitely made from white marble, coloured mosaics, stone inlay and lattice work with its style being regarded as highly innovative for this Mughal period.
Four squat minarets form the corners of the tomb and the centre of the building is capped with a square dome.
Itimad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb with square dome
The polished external marble is covered in stone inlay, the very first time that the pietra dura technique had been extensively used.
Most impressive was the mosaic and stuccowork lining the interior section of the tomb, especially the upper dome mosaics.
Decorations inside Itimad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb
We returned to our hotel via a highly up-market arts centre specialising in crafts like pietra dura as well as carpets, textiles, bronzes and carved wooden items. It was all of the highest imaginable quality but with prices to match, no purchases were considered. Apart from the cost, we have weight limits on our luggage and we keep reminding ourselves that we have already collected far too much memorabilia in the past.
Tomorrow we leave Agra and move westwards towards Jaipur with our next stop being at Ranthambore tomorrow evening.
Our short stay in Agra has been amazingly memorable despite the steamy conditions we’ve had to endure.