Agra

28.01.2011 - 31.01.2011

Our most anticipated stop on our journey was to the Taj Mahal, India’s premier tourist attraction. Listed as one of the ‘Seven Wonders of Modern World’, this mausoleum was constructed by Shah Jahan as a love offering to his wife. This marvelous structure, which took 21 years and 20,000 workers to complete, is recognized as the culmination of Indo-Persian architecture. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj Mahal in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.

While here, we also visited the Agra Fort, located near the gardens of the Taj Mahal. The Red Fort of Agra is a powerful fortress of red sandstone which encompasses within its 2.5 km long enclosure walls, the imperial city of Mughal rulers. It comprises many palaces, such as Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas; and two very beautiful mosques of white marble, the Moti Masjid and the Nagina Masjid. Several of the buildings are made from pure marble with beautiful carvings. Emperor Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son in the Agra Fort, from which he had a view of the beautiful building he erected for his wife. He is said to have died in the Musamman Burj, a tower with a beautiful marble balcony.