Thursday, May 14, 2009

Amazing Journey to Incredible India - AGRA (Part 3)

Women wearing colorful saris outside the main entrance of Taj Majal, Agra India.
Agra is the capital of India under the Mughals, the splendor of which remains undiminished, from the massive fort to the magnificent Taj Mahal. It is the third apex of the “Golden Triangle”, India’s most popular tourist itinerary, along with Delhi and Jaipur in Rajasthan. Agra’s greatest days arrived during the reign of Akbar the Great, with the construction of Agra Fort. It is majestically built along the bend of the Yamuna River and is made of red-sandstone. His grandson, Shah Jahan, on the other hand built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal (“Chosen One of the Palace”) who died shortly after giving birth to her fourteenth child.
Kids crossing the Yamuna river, Agra India.
Agra is the capital of India under the Mughals, the splendor of which remains undiminished, from the massive fort to the magnificent Taj Mahal. It is the third apex of the “Golden Triangle”, India’s most popular tourist itinerary, along with Delhi and Jaipur in Rajasthan. Agra’s greatest days arrived during the reign of Akbar the Great, with the construction of Agra Fort. It is majestically built along the bend of the Yamuna River and is made of red-sandstone. His grandson, Shah Jahan, on the other hand built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal (“Chosen One of the Palace”) who died shortly after giving birth to her fourteenth child.
The purest white marble, inlaid with mosaics of precious stones of the walls of Taj Majal, Agra India.
The magic of the monument is strangely undiminished by the crowds of tourists who visit, as small and insignificant as ants in the face of the immense mausoleum. That said, the Taj is as it’s most alluring in the relative quiet of early morning, shrouded in mist and bathed with a soft red glow. As its vast marble surfaces fall into shadow or reflect the sun, its color changes, from soft grey and yellow to pearly cream and dazzling white. This play of light is an important decorative device, symbolically implying the presence of Allah, who is never represented in physical form.

Part 4 Jaipur

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