Close encounters with monuments: the Taj Mahal

Of course, I was always a tad curious about it, but didn't think I'd ever get to Agra and see the Taj Mahal. Apparently, if you live long enough, things you didn't expect to happen do. Before dawn, on July 6 we were driven to the Taj Mahal. This is not tourist season due to the monsoon--so for much of the morning we had it pretty much to ourselves (with a few dozen domestic Indian tourists)...it did get more crowded through the morning, but never the crush I'd expected.

Like anything famous, one is prepared to be disappointed. In the case of "the Taj", I wasn't disappointed at all--it is imposing and at the same time somehow accessible. It was the sort of experience visiting there I realized I'd actually like to go back and see it again. The iconic building looked subtly different from every vantage point.

I'm not sure it's possible in a blog post to convey very much--but I'd like to give a taste at least of my close encounter with this monument. 

For equal opportunity purposes I am showing the view of the entrance FROM the plaza in front of the Taj...

This is the "guest house" to the right of the Taj Mahal. There is a matching mosque to the left.

The reddish morning sun peering over the monuments was a fine companion to have!

I don't know why, but I hadn't expected that the grounds would be so lush, or that there would be a veritable arboretum of trees (many labeled) to boot. I was enchanted by the murmuration of birds I tried to capture in the video below....

And of course the details were enchanting

The carved marble inlaid with precious stones was also a surprise, I don't know why. I should have expected it!

I zoomed in on the Taj Mahal while visiting the "Red Fort" (which is poorly named--it's red indeed, but it was the palace of generations of Mughal emperors--a peer to the Topkapi!

There were crowds here as well--and less supervision: I was distressed at graffiti and other vandalism in the palaces.

The approach over the moat was suitably dramatic: emperors know how to humble their visitors!

The carved sandstone was lovely.

And the marble inlaid with semi-precious jewels recalled the Taj Mahal: I have never seen anything     quite like it.

I have read that Italian architects were employed--but surely they wouldn't have known about Crown Imperials and the aril and juno iris on the palace walls. I saw even lovelier marble panels inside the Taj Mahal, where alas, we couldn't photograph.

I wonder what was originally planted in the gardens? 

India delighted for so many reasons, not least of which was seeing the locals dressed in their elegant saris.

Me and my three fellow travelers (Doorke Van Balen and Marike Farenhorst from Netherlands, and Susanne Peters on the right from Germany.) 

Brief visits to great monuments are touchstones in many of our lives. We carry them with us for as long as we live, like the reddish sun of the monsoons and the susurration of tropical trees.