“A symbol of love”

In the mid 70’s,my parents took me on a trip to India. We visited New Delhi, Chennai(Madras) and Mumbai (Bombay). This story is about a day trip to Agra which is in the Uttar Pradesh state in northern India.

We first went to see the Red Fort of Agra, which is on the Yamuna river and built in the 16th century, under the reign of Emperor Akbar , who was Shah Jehan’s grandfather. Shah Jehan became the 5th Mughal emperor after his father Jehangir passed away in 1627.

The Red Fort of Agra is one of the best preserved forts of the Mughal Empire. Inside this huge red sandstone fortress , you walk through courtyards,a huge variety of arches, decorative carvings adorn the walls. The fort has splendid palaces in red sandstone and in white marble. There are small windows carved into the wall of the Octagonal Tower at Agra Fort , where Shah Jehan could gaze at The Taj Mahal .He was imprisoned there in 1658 by his 3rd son Aurangzeb, who was angry over the huge amount of money being spent on buildings like The Taj Mahal. Shah Jehan stayed there for 8 years until he died .

Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum and means ‘Crown of the Palace’. It stands on the banks of the river Yamuna. Emperor Shah Jehan had this monument of love built in the 17th century for his third wife Mumtaz Mahal .It took 22 years for the Taj Mahal to be completed. Surrounded by beautiful gardens and elevated paths, the famous water mirror captures The Taj Mahal reflected in the water.

The two buildings next to the mausoleum are a mosque on the right and a guest house on the left. There are 3 entry gates to the Taj Mahal and we used the western gate which is the main entrance and it looks toward Shahjahan gardens and Agra city.

Radiance spreads in every direction as you look at the mesmerising beauty of the Taj Mahal, framed by a beautiful archway. The trees of Taj Mahal garden are also symbolic as they are planted in symmetrical format. The garden is divided into four parts.

The main gateway to the Taj Mahal has beautiful crafted doors, one to receive visitors from all three entry gates and the other opening towards the white marble mausoleum. One of the charms of the Taj Mahal is it’s constantly changing hue. pale pink at sunrise, dazzling white at noon and orange when the sun sets.

The interior decorations are exquisite , inlaid with intricate designs of more than 30 types of precious and semi precious stones. The stones decorating the walls of the chamber came from all over the world, such as jade from China, turquoise from Tibet, sapphire from Sri Lanka and real white diamonds from Rajasthan. Embedded along the walls are black onyx calligraphy , inlaid jewels and sparkling gemstones.

The cenotaphs honouring Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jehan are enclosed in an eight-sided chamber inlaid with precious and semi – precious stones. The place where they are buried are below at garden level and not adorned with elaborate decoration .

The Taj Mahal casts a spell on anyone who lays eyes on it’s majestic beauty and it should be on everyone’s bucket list.