Taj Mahal

We are waiting to go into the Taj Mahal while the sun is rising. Women and men wait in separate lines for security purposes.

Our last day in India began early with a sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal. According to our guide Navneet, it is the “teardrop on the face of the world.” Built by Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife and queen with the finest white marble and inlaid jewels, the project took 20,000 workers 22 years. His wife Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth with her fourteenth child at the age of 29. On her deathbed, she requested three things of her husband. Two of those requests were to care for the children and build a mausoleum to honor  her. He built this amazing structure to memorialize their eternal love for each other. The structure and gardens are perfectly symmetrical with one exception: Shah Jahan’s tomb was placed to the left of his wife’s. In fact, there is a mosque to the left and a building to the right that is exactly the same.

The marble came from near Jaipur,in the state of Rajasthan, carried by elephants. The sandstone came from Fatehpur Sikri and precious gems and metals such as gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires were obtained from China, Burma, Persia Baghdad and Europe.

The entrance to Taj Mahal is through this red sandstone gateway that is beautifully inlaid with black and white marble  calligraphy and motifs in floral and geometric designs. The calligraphy is scaled larger at the top so that the perception is that it is the same size throughout. Notice the floral motifs and calligraphy below.

Sunrise

Patty and I pinch ourselves to know that we are really here.

If you think the minaret is leaning, you are right. It was designed this way so that if it fell, it would not hit the Taj Mahal.

Reflection of Taj Mahal in the pool of water. This picture was taken as the sun was rising.

An hour later the sky manifested as clear blue and the Taj Mahal is more defined in the picture.

Side view

The artwork is outstanding, to say the least, and the inlaid colors have not changed over the years. 

Marble

Geometric designs abound.

This is the mosque to the left of the Taj Mahal. They built an identical building to the right to maintain symmetry, its only purpose.

Exiting the Taj Mahal - Inside are rooms where the sun shines in magnificently; these rooms do not have a purpose except to add to the grandiosity of the building.