Our first view of the Taj Mahal was actually through the gate. We awoke at 5 to see the marble change color in the sun's light. It truly was a stunning site.
Another good reason to go so early was to avoid the crowds. Though this shouldn't have been a problem during Monsoon season/intolerable summer heat.
I'm going to spare you a history lesson because no one probably reads this to learn about the history of India or the Taj Mahal. But there wasn't anything particular that made my visit to the Taj any more exciting than anyone else's (there are between 2 million and 4 million people who see it annually).
So I'll shall conduct a list of things that I found interesting while there:
-The love story of why the Taj Mahal was built is truly beautful. But I promised no history lectures so if you want to look up the story yourself you can.
-The symmetrical perfection of the building and gardens is unbeleivable. The moguls had to have been geniuses to plan some of the stuff they figured out to do.
-Our guide told us that the Shah who built the Taj as a tomb for his dead wife planned on building himself a black replica of the Taj Mahal across the Yamanah River as a symbol of the hardships of life. This isn't actually true but it makes a really nice story for him to tell tourists.
-There is a mosque built next to the tomb so that the Shah could have prayed after coming to visit his dead wife. Oddly enough, he wanted to build a second mosque just so that it would look symetrical. The problem is that mosques have to face Mecca. So there is a non-functioning mosque that actually would have functioned as a guest house.
The Arabic and Islamic-Persian-Indian combination of art and architecture is truly stunning. I truly appreciate the Moguls.
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