Ever since I saw our itinerary for the Seminar, I've been looking forward to visiting Agra, the site of the Taj Mahal. Coming to India and not seeing its most famous monument would mean the possibility of planning another trip. Being a tourist in India, I've learned, is much easier when Fulbright is arranging everything, offering a level of access I couldn't replicate on my own.
As it is, we've been gradually shedding Fulbright staff. We said goodbye to Josmi, the program coordinator, and Reshmi, the academic facilitator, last night. They've been with us since we arrived in Mumbai two weeks ago. Today, a tour company and bus picked us up at the hotel at 6:45 am. It's a four-hour drive to Agra, the erstwhile capital of the Mughal empire.
The Mughals ruled parts of what is now India starting in the sixteenth century. The grandson of the first Mughal emperor, established the seat of the kingdom in the city of Agra and built the Agra Fort as his palace and defense. It was another in his line, Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum to his favorite wife, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. You enter the complex from a large courtyard ringed with sandstone arches, which served as rooms for travelers at the time. The Taj Mahal appears framed through the north gate before you encounter it in full.
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| The view from the North Gate |
Our Indian tour guide kept emphasizing the Hindu elements of the Taj Mahal, but it's clear that the Mughals were Muslim. Arabic calligraphy lines the walls, four minarets mark each corner, no human images appear, and the arches recall Persian designs. The symmetry, scale, and uniformity of the main edifice call out for taking photos. Even though images of the Taj Mahal are easy to find online, the thousands of us in the courtyard couldn't stop capturing every angle and with every kind of pose.
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| The main tomb from closer up. |
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| One of my colleagues posing in front of the building. |
We walked closer to the main building and then queued up to go inside. As imposing as the dome is from the outside, it feels modest inside. There is an inner dome that shrinks the scale. In the center of the rotunda is a carved marble screen surrounding two cenotaphs. The real burials sites of the queen (and her husband, who joined her later) are located directly below, but that level is not accessible to the public.
We kept walking around the gardens and then back out to the street. Electric buggies took us on a path to the bus parking lot. Compared to the morning bustle, the afternoon crowds were unbearable. Traffic congestion had turned a two-way street one way. Our intrepid bus driver navigated the cars, motorcycles, donkeys, and vendors to pick us up and take us to a very swanky hotel for a buffet lunch.
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| The facade of the palace at Agra Fort |
After lunch, the bus took us to Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan lived and could gaze at the masterpiece in memory of his wife. While the Taj Mahal is well known, Agra Fort was less familiar to me. To my surprise, it was just as majestic as the Taj Mahal. Close to 500 years old, the Fort retains all the decoration and opulence of its days as a palace. Room after room of intricately carved sandstone open onto landscaped courtyards. The king's inner sanctum comes complete with accommodation for his harem, a bath and fountain, vineyard, and a drainage system.
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| A view of the Taj Mahal from the Fort |
By 4:00 pm, the heat was getting strong, and we boarded the bus to return to Delhi. It took four hours to return to the hotel. We ate dinner together and made plans for our final day of sightseeing. I know Delhi has many monuments and temples, though I would consider the trip a success if I saw nothing more than the two marvels we visited today.
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