A Scorching Fairytale - Agra

This weekend was the time head to Agra before the weather gets too uncomfortable with the onset of summer. A couple people from work, Nemo and Henna, helped Louise and I plan a day trip out of Gurgaon to see the infamous Taj Mahal and some other sights in the Uttar Pradesh state (neighbors Haryana where I live). Of course I was really anxious to finally see in person what I had always thought of as a fairytale. The forecast was looking warm and those rays were hot - highs above 105° F.

We set out early for our four hour trip to Agra bright and early. About an hour into the trip, everyone's stomach started to rumble and we decided to stop along the way for a much needed Vada Coconut Masala Dosa (highly recommended). We scarfed down a dosa each, plus another one to share between the four of us. Content as little kids in a candy store, we continued on our journey and stopped first in Sikandra to see Akbar's Tomb. This is the resting place of the father of the ruler who created the Taj Mahal, or so I'm told. Beautiful red stone and gardens make way to Akbar's tomb. There weren't too many foreign tourists here in Sikandra, more of the Indian tourists coming to see a great ruler's tomb. The significance of this place is much more than I would ever be able to understand, but it is very important to Indians throughout the entire country.


Through the nightmarish traffic of Agra (read: driving on the wrong side of the road and just slipping by oncoming semis), we eventually made our way to the Taj Mahal. You cannot be dropped off at the entrance to the Taj, but instead at a parking lot about 1.5 kilometers from the main gate. That being said, it's a circus of cycle rickshaws, autoricksaws, horse drawn carriages, and camel drawn carts competing to bring you to the main gate. We opted for the camel and were brought through crowds of other tourists and people trying to sell trinkets of every sort (mostly leather whips actually). We made our way into the the grounds and all the hassle was definitely worth the wait. Walking through the arched entry, you see the white, glistening Taj Mahal in all its beauty. It's surreal. Whenever I had seen the Taj in photos, I always wondered how it could look so "fake" and why the weather was literally always perfect.

In any case, we took in the Taj for awhile in the main entry before we decided to put on a little show for Indian tourists (aka taking silly, crazy photos). People seemed pretty amused, but we continued on for the main reason we were here. You are able to get up close and personal with the mammoth white marble structure and go inside to see the tomb for the lady this Taj Mahal was built (along with her husband, the one who commissioned the work). It's actually a really interesting story, as he was imprisoned by his own son for running up unnecessary finances (essentially) and watched the completion of his majestic Taj Mahal from his prison cell. Every aspect of the Taj Mahal, architecturally-speaking, is really so magnificent. Apparently they also thought this in the 17th century, having brought in only the best craftsmen to work on the Taj, but later cutting off all of their thumbs/hands so as to prevent any replication of the beauty. Also because the air pollution is so bad, researchers and scientists are saying the marble, originally stark white, is becoming yellow. They are considering "encasing" the entire Taj Mahal with some sort of glass case. I hope they will be able to find some sort of alternative to encasing the beauty.

After moseying around the grounds for some time, we decided that it was time to head out. Fatehpur Sikri is another site fairly close the the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, which was once the capital to the Mughal Empire. The site is kind of a tourist trap full of aggressive touts, but we were able to get some peace and explore this fort/mosque. There is a nice view looking out onto the plains from the front gate. As the call to prayer started playing over the speakers at the mosque, we decided to was time to get on the road and head back to Gurgaon/Delhi.

I'm no history buff, but seeing these kinds of monuments beyond their architectural beauty and trying to understand them for historical significance is difficult sometimes, but just the sheer magnitude of these sites really puts things into perspective.

Here's a link to my photos of Agra and Uttar Pradesh in Google Photos/Picasa Web Albums (also links from below slide show).