Travelling yesterday to Taj Mahal is a lonely planet experience for me. Imagine travelling in a bus filled with Indians and i am the only foreigner in the bus. A needle in the hay stock perhaps.
For 500 rupies ( or P500.00), i joined a local tour to the magnificent Taj and other spots in Agra and the neighboring places upon recommendation of the hotel operator where i am staying. The bus left around 7:30a.m., very late i suppose since the other tour that i browsed upon states that the bus should leave delhi at around 6:00 a.m.
We arrived at Agra at around 12:30 noon. After eating lunch, i entered the Taj Mahal compound around 2:00p.m. and went out after two hours.
My original purpose was to have a picture of the real Taj Mahal as the background. I had one picture of the replica shot in Japan last year from one of their amusement parks in Kinogawa-onsen.
For local Indians, the entrance fee is 20 rupies, However, for foreign tourists, one has to shell out 750 rupies.
Nevertheless, a trip to the Taj is very overwhelming experience. What I just hear and see in the books and documentation is now in front of me. And the nearer you come to the structure, the more that you will be amazed with this Wonder of the World. The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. Staring and touching the walls is very gratifying as the Taj utilizes bas-relief and pietra dura inlaid decorations with floral motifs. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs.
I was told that the Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia and over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
Trivia or urban legend: the fingers of those who worked in Taj Mahal were decapitated so that they can not replicate thier work.
Later in the evening, we visited the birth place of Krishna in Mathura. He is often depicted as an infant, as a young boy playing a flute as in the Bhagavata Purana,[1]or as a youthful prince giving direction and guidance as in the Bhagavad Gita. We also visited another site, Nandivan, whose architecture is a site to visit.
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