Cant take my eyes off it
Yeaowzer the Taj is beauuuutiful. I managed to keep away for about an hour after yesterdays post, and then gave in to the temptation. The mist and pollution cleared a little by 2pm odd yesterday, and so off I trollied into the Taj complex. To be honest, from things I had heard and things I had read, I was expecting a fiesta of begging, bad souveniers and hawkers before getting to the monument itself - so I was greatly and happily surprised when I was shuffled through security, given some free bottled water and some shoe covers, and then whisked into the beautiful and peaceful ornamental gardens without so much as a second look. I suppose the novelty of tourists wears off if you work in the countries most visited site.
The the approach to the main mausoleum consists of a large ornamental gate and then long water gardens with lots of benches and shady places to stop and take in the scene. The tourists here come from all over India as well as the World, and so there are plenty of people watching opportunities too. When you come through the first gate, you are smacked in the face by the "classic" Taj view (the one which was imortalised with the "single"lady Diana picture) and at that point, you can employ one of the government regulated photographers to take the classic shot of you. I did it the cheapskate way and got some other Brit tourists to take a photo of me in return for taking one of them!
You are then free to wander the gardens and the approach to the main mausoleum. Everything they say about the Taj is true - each angle of it shows more beauty - its colour changes with the light - and I have never seen such a building that draws the eye. I spent 5 hours in the compound, and I couldnt take my eyes off it! If you go inside, you are obliged to put on your shoe protectors to keep the marble underfoot whiter than white (though wierdly, they dont give these to domestic tourists - they are forced to go barefoot!) Inside, there is a very grand circular tomb which is surrounded by delicate filigree carved marble.
I spent about an hour just looking at the front - the whole building is covered in Sanskrit writing in black inlay onto the white marble, and also inlaid flowers. Beautiful.
The rest of the afternoon I spent wandering the gardens biding my time till sunset. I spent a very enjoyable hour or so watching the main photo area - seeing how funny people are when they are posing for photos. Indian families in big groups all standing stiffly and formally, school groups of ponytailed children wildly screaming and funniest of all, groups of young men holding hands and also doing Hasslehoff style double finger points. Very funny. The other funny thing was that Indian families really like having thier photo taken with "foreigners" so I became a bit of a celebrity for 20 mins having photoshoots with all sorts of people.
I was also surprised at how much wildlife there was in the compound - I saw more birds here than in Bharatpur! There were waders, tiger birds and strange prehistoric looking birds with large protrusions out of the back of thier heads. Also of course lots and lots of Indian squirrels (I nearly had a cardiac arrest when I had fallen asleep on the grass and one of them ran over my foot.....) Also saw a ferret thing as well.
The sun set early at about 5pm and we were treated with red and black skies. Very pretty. After dark, the Taj is not illuminated, but I had high hopes of the moonlight, as its full moon. BUT unfortunately I was thwarted last night because it was really cloudy - the moon was full, but it wasnt reflecting on the Taj at all. Infact, I couldnt see the Taj at all! Oh well.
This morning I have risen early for Yoga and Taj dawn viewing from the roof of the hotel. Wonderbar. Now Im off to seek the most tacky souvenier I can find. I hope to find some Taj Mahal snow domes. Starting to feel Christmassy! YAY
The the approach to the main mausoleum consists of a large ornamental gate and then long water gardens with lots of benches and shady places to stop and take in the scene. The tourists here come from all over India as well as the World, and so there are plenty of people watching opportunities too. When you come through the first gate, you are smacked in the face by the "classic" Taj view (the one which was imortalised with the "single"lady Diana picture) and at that point, you can employ one of the government regulated photographers to take the classic shot of you. I did it the cheapskate way and got some other Brit tourists to take a photo of me in return for taking one of them!
You are then free to wander the gardens and the approach to the main mausoleum. Everything they say about the Taj is true - each angle of it shows more beauty - its colour changes with the light - and I have never seen such a building that draws the eye. I spent 5 hours in the compound, and I couldnt take my eyes off it! If you go inside, you are obliged to put on your shoe protectors to keep the marble underfoot whiter than white (though wierdly, they dont give these to domestic tourists - they are forced to go barefoot!) Inside, there is a very grand circular tomb which is surrounded by delicate filigree carved marble.
I spent about an hour just looking at the front - the whole building is covered in Sanskrit writing in black inlay onto the white marble, and also inlaid flowers. Beautiful.
The rest of the afternoon I spent wandering the gardens biding my time till sunset. I spent a very enjoyable hour or so watching the main photo area - seeing how funny people are when they are posing for photos. Indian families in big groups all standing stiffly and formally, school groups of ponytailed children wildly screaming and funniest of all, groups of young men holding hands and also doing Hasslehoff style double finger points. Very funny. The other funny thing was that Indian families really like having thier photo taken with "foreigners" so I became a bit of a celebrity for 20 mins having photoshoots with all sorts of people.
I was also surprised at how much wildlife there was in the compound - I saw more birds here than in Bharatpur! There were waders, tiger birds and strange prehistoric looking birds with large protrusions out of the back of thier heads. Also of course lots and lots of Indian squirrels (I nearly had a cardiac arrest when I had fallen asleep on the grass and one of them ran over my foot.....) Also saw a ferret thing as well.
The sun set early at about 5pm and we were treated with red and black skies. Very pretty. After dark, the Taj is not illuminated, but I had high hopes of the moonlight, as its full moon. BUT unfortunately I was thwarted last night because it was really cloudy - the moon was full, but it wasnt reflecting on the Taj at all. Infact, I couldnt see the Taj at all! Oh well.
This morning I have risen early for Yoga and Taj dawn viewing from the roof of the hotel. Wonderbar. Now Im off to seek the most tacky souvenier I can find. I hope to find some Taj Mahal snow domes. Starting to feel Christmassy! YAY
posted by Abster at 4:24 am
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