Tajmania
Travel Location: Asia,India,Uttar-Pradesh,Agra
After the rickshaw ride from hell in Delhi, I arrived in Agra simply wanting to go to bed and try to sleep it off. Instead, my rickshaw from the station was charged by a herd of cows, and I only survived thanks to the quick reactions of my driver, Sultan. Unfortunately, for saving my life, he seemed to think that I i) was somehow blessed by God and therefore important, and ii) owed him something (the cheek!), so proceeded to book himself to take me on a tour of Agra the following day. I told him I couldn’t afford the 650 rupees he wanted, but he advised me I could pay ‘as you like’, so we roughly agreed that I would see the Taj in the morning, then meet him afterwards for more rickshaw adventures.
Now, everyone knows about the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan’s monument to love, wonder of the world, great architectural achievement blah blah blah… so with all the hype I wondered if it would be a bit of a letdown – like Niagara Falls. The Taj sits in Agra like a diamond in a turd… a pristine jewel protected from the surrounding shite by huge red stone walls and gates. Taj Ganj, the main tourist area next to the Taj, is the usual ugly, disorganised, noisy mess of a place, and I opted for a cheapie guest house with a rooftop restaurant view of the famous landmark. I woke early (without Delhi-belly – woohoo!) and went to the West Gate for opening time. Along with a horde of other western tourists, I went into the compound at about 6.30pm, as the first morning light was just washing over the horizon. Early morning is probably the best time to view the Taj… it’s cool, the light is good and most of the tours haven’t yet arrived, so I think I was lucky to tour the place in the best conditions.
So, was the hype well-earned? Absolutely, undeniably yes… I thought the Taj was one of the most spectacular, sublime things I’ve seen in my life. As a piece of architecture, it’s pretty much perfect… the symmetry, the pure white marble, the patterened inlays and the surrounding gardens, all combine to produce a sight which is even better than the postcards make it look. The soft morning light bathed the Taj in an orange glow – chilly in the shade but pleasantly warm in the sun. I spent about 3 hours wandering round the grounds, looking at the tomb itself and just relaxing (despite the frequent guides asking me to get off a small bench on one of the side lawns as it was a ‘photo point’ – sod off, it’s a bloody bench, made for sitting down!). I resisted the urge to take a jumping photo or a stock shot of me on the ‘Diana bench’, but enjoyed people watching as all manner of nationalities entered the site and did pretty much exactly the same thing!
Although the Taj domintes Agra, there are other things to see here… like the ‘baby Taj’, for instance! Agra, it seems, is a great place to build a big tomb for yourself, so it boasts a number of extravagant mausoleums along the banks of it’s main river, the Yamuna. I only went to one of the them – Itimad-ub-Daulah’s Tomb, known as the Baby Taj because it was the precursor and in some ways the template for the big daddy built not long after on the opposite bank of the river. The Baby is a beautiful little escape from the crowded streets of Agra. Again surrounded by a stone wall, and costing just 100 rupees to get in (you get a discount if you’ve already been to the almost too-expensive 750-rupee Taj), it’s a small white building set in small formal gardens, with a river terrace and small pavilion providing lots of shade and quiet areas to sit. I actually spent most of my time there watching the gang of kites perched in a nearby tree, as they swooped down to snatch fish from the river… and the ravens who looked on jealously as the kites devoured each catch.
After a brief time away from Agra’s main attraction, it was time to go back to the Taj… first to see it at sunset from the opposite bank of the river (where you can either do the formal thing and pay to enter a park, or the informal thing where you sit at the end of a dirt track and gaze over a barbed-wire fence and security tower for free… the latter was much more atmospheric!), which was a bit of a disappointment, and then a wander through the nearby Nature Park, which provides yet more views of the Taj, but this time with trees in front. Topped off with a meal at a rooftop restaurant overlooking, you guessed it, the Taj, I felt I’d pretty much done this one monument, so I grabbed my things and headed to Agra Fort train station (yes Agra also has a fort… which I sadly didn’t have the energy to go and see, but it looks very impressive) for my train to Varanasi.
I should say that this blog should have been followed by entries on places including Fatehpur Sikri, Gwalior, Orchha and Kajuraho, but I decided to short-circuit the last leg of my planned India trip and go straight to Nepal so that I could do some trekking (and writing this after just getting back from said trek, it was definitely a good decision!). So, my next and final stop in India would be Varanasi…
