Taj Mahal, April 20

It really is stunning!  It certainly deserves its place in the 7 wonders of the modern world.  Today we were up at 4:40 am (really!) to leave for the Taj Mahal at 5:15 am, allegedley to see it at sunrise.  Well not quite.  It turns out it opens at sunrise, so we saw it somewhat after sunrise, but still plenty early, and in the morning light.  The real reason, I suspect, was to get in the queue, because they have 30,000 visitors per day.  That sounds riduculous, but actually the line moved quickly once it started (at sunrise), and once inside, there is so much space that most of the time we did not feel crowded.

The Taj Mahal is a monument built by a Mogul Emporer of India in the 1600's as a memorial and a mausoleum for his wife who died in childbirth.  It took 20,000 workers 20 years to complete, and is considered one of the most perfect arcitectural structures in the world.  The style is a fushion of Indian and Persian architecture.  It is made entirely of hand-carved white marble, decorated with gems and semi-precious stones.  The building is designed to appear like a shimmering mirage of perfection that one might imagine rising out of a desert, and incorporates the elements of balance and perspective, with every part in perfect harmony.

Here is the proof that we were really there.  See how white the building looks in the morning light.

And here is a special picture for grandson Cam Ramolla, whose birthday it is today.

The complex is large and consists of a number of other buildings designed to complement and enhance the Taj Mahal.  One of the other buildings, to the west of the Taj, is the Mosque, shown below.

The Taj Mahal is set within a large courtyard of gardens, walks, fountains, etc.  Outside of this couryard is yet another outer courtyard, which itself is also beautiful.  Here is Peggy in the outer courtyard.

 

 

A couple more pictures of the Taj Mahal in the morning.

 



 

 We returned to see the Taj Mahal again at sunset.  Interestingly, by this time the colours had changed.  The Taj Mahal was quite white in the morning.  In the late afternoon, given the different lighting, it became much more of a pinker-beige colour, as shown in the pictures below.

 

 

 

 

Too tired, going to bed.  P&G