The first day of the countdown is called Durga Puja - it celebrates the victory of the Hindu god Rama over the demon-king Ravana and the triumph of good over evil. Giant effigies of Ravana and his cohorts are ritually burnt so we went to the local park to have a look.
A few days after that, wives dress up in honour of their husbands and say special prayers for them. As a result, the shops are full of bangles, fancy saris, fancy tikkas (dots for the forehead) and henna. We saw women lining up on the streets to have their hands decorated by 'professionals' in preperation for the big day so we bought some to use at home. It came in a little paper cone (like an icing cone used in baking) so we cut off the end and drew all over my hands!
I had to wait for about an hour for the colour to soak in before I could remove it (I washed it off by mistake instead of rubbing it off), leaving a bright orange colour where the henna had been which luckily darkened overnight!
We also went to a concert in place called the Garden of Five Senses to see a fantastic Delhi based band, called Advaita, play. The drummer, Kumar, is a friend of Kartik and Neha's and is very very good at what he does! They kind of remind me of Nitin Sawhney as they are a 'psychedelic fusion' of Indian and Western sounds but sound unique in comparison to anything we have heard. We are pretty sure they will be huge! (www.advaitaonline.net)
Mum had decided that she wanted to pay for a driver and car for us to go to Agra (Uttar Pradesh) to see the Taj Majal and Fatehphur Sikri as ‘that was the way to do Agra’ and she couldn’t bear the fact of us taking a train or bus to the sprawling, polluted city. Again, who were we to argue?
It took 5 hours (we all thought it was going to take 3) to get there and the traffic was gridlocked once we got to Agra. We managed to sort out a backpackers hotel in Taj Ganj, 10 minutes walk from the Taj, checked in and rushed down to the monument to see it before the sun set.
I have seen the Taj Mahal a few times before but it was different seeing it through eyes that wanted to see it rather than through eyes that belonged to a child who was annoyed about having to walk around it again! I had never seen it at sunset either. I managed to blag local entry cost for me (10% of the foreigner price) and stood in the ladies queue. While I was waiting, I was given a pair of covers for our shoes (so as not to damage the marble when we walked on it) and a business card of a shop keeper who wanted me to go in after we had seen the Taj and so I agreed. Yeah, yeah whatever.
We went through a courtyard before entering the main gate.
What a sight. The Taj Mahal is beautiful.
The Taj is described as the the ‘most extravagant monument ever built for love’ and as an architectural masterpiece it stands alone. It was built by Emeperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child (are you surprised?) in 1631. Her death left him so heartbroken that his hair is said to have turned grey overnight! Construction of the Taj began that year but was not completed till 1653. Not long after, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son and imprisoned in Agra Fort where, for the rest of his days until he died in 1666, he could only gaze at his creation from a window. Following his death, Shah Jahan was buried here alongside Mumtaz.
Looking back towards the main gate
We tried to get some classic cheesy shots. I, of course, got Matt to stand there forever while I took photo after photo to get the perfect picture which pleased him no end.
And then it was my turn.
We walked down towards the Taj, trying to get some arty farty photos before the light completely vanished.
We then walked around the back of the Taj, which overlooks the wide Yamuna River.
It is said that some 20,000 people from India and Central Asia worked on the Taj Mahal. Specialists were brought in for as far afield as Europe to produce marble screens and pietra dura (marble inlay work) made with thousands of semiprecious stones!
Matt chilling out amongst the mayhem (check out the sexy shoe covers)
Families on their day out
More people..
It was busier and more touristy than I remembered, as expected, but what I was truly shocked about was the ‘guard’ in the chamber where the tombs are built, blowing a bloody whistle in the delicate ears of tourists if they used their camera! Fair enough, there was a ‘no camera’ sign in English (maybe a picture would have been more internationally understood?) but there was absolutely no need for a shrieking whistle! I am sure they used to expect complete silence as a sign of respect. Crazy Indians.
We stayed till the sun set (unfortunately it wasn’t a spectacular one due to the hazy polluted sky) and left the Taj in darkness to go back to the hotel. The very same boy who handed me the business card when queuing to get in literally pounced on us as we left the Taj (it was dark and it had been hours) and we so we HAD to go the shop. Yeah, yeah, we ended up buying some pretty little marble boxes, very likely paid way too much for them, but we wanted to buy something for mum and masi so we were happy (and we got some freebies! See below for our free mini Taj keyrings)
The next day the driver drove us to the Agra Fort, one of the finest Mughal forts in India. Construction of the fort was started by Emperor Akbar but additions were made, particularly by his grandson Shah Jahan who added buildings using his favourite material – white marble. The fort was primarily built as a military structure but Shah Jahan transformed it into a palace before it later became his prison when his son overpowered him.
The ear-shaped fort’s colossal double walls (over 20m in height) measure 2.5 km in circumference. The fort contains a maze of buildings, forming a city within a city and was an impressive sight to see.
No health and safety here!
Poor Shah Jahan was only able to look out to his beloved's wife tomb in the Taj.
Next on the agenda was Fatehpur Sikri, now a ghost city but once previously the short-lived capital of the Mughal empire during the reign of Emperor Akbar. Unfortunately, although it is a ‘brilliant Indo-Islamic Masterpiece’, the city was built in an area that suffers from water shortages and was abandoned shortly after Akbar’s death , which seems like a waste to me.
Check out the handcarved detail in the wall behind me
The mosque, however, is still used so we popped along. The main entrance is through the impressive 54m-high Buland Dirwaza (Victory Gate) which is said to be the largest in Asia. We tried to get a picture of it but it wouldn’t quite fit!
We also ended up being accosted by a young man here who was a student learning languages to be a guide, but stressed he was ‘only a student and not a guide’ and wanted to speak and show us around. We agreed and he was well spoken and took some good pictures of us (especially of this one outside the other entrance, Shahi Dirwaza – the one for the Royals apparently.
He showed us around the mosque and explained that the family of the priest is still buried in the grounds - women are buried under cover near the surrounding wall whereas the men are buried in the courtyard.
In the center of the mosque is a small marble building which contains the tomb of Shaikh Salim Chist - a famous Sufi saint of the Chisti Order in India. He was greatly revered as it was thought that he could perform miracles. When Emperor Akbar came to the holy man's camp in the desert seeking a male heir to the throne, Salim Chisti blessed him and soon the first of three sons was born to him. Akbar held the Sufi in such high regard after this tgat he had the the great city of Fatehpur Sikri built around his camp! Nowadays, childless women, particularly those without a male heir, still continue to pray on bended knees before his tomb (male children are extremely important in much of Asia where female children are often seen as a burden because of the need of a dowry).
We were both allowed to go in but before we did, a few locals tried to sell us a length of 'holy' cloth at an extortionate price but we decided to give a donation instead for some flower petals and a length of string that we were told to tie around the marble lattice inside while we made our wish...
Muslim matt scattering the flower petals over the tomb
I normally suit hats but I am not sure about this one
It did of course end up with a visit to his friends’ stall who made and sold marble items, this time we refused politely. He also then asked for a donation to him if we were happy with his service (how did you guess?!). We gave him a little money and then promised ourselves to try and not get roped into that one again!
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