Agra is the home of Fatehpur Sikri (a grand fortress built in the 1500's) as well as the Taj Mahal. Throughout my life I have seen many pictures of the Taj Mahal and heard it talked about many times. I think when most people are asked to name one site or temple in India they will almost always say the Taj Mahal. Because of this notoriety, I was expecting it to be a pretty well developed route to get there from Delhi, but boy was I wrong. 6 hours of small winding, crowded roads through tiny Indian farm villages, cows all over the roads, never going more than 35 miles per hour the whole way, and in 105 degree weather!
Agra was a small dirty little city with one reason for being on the map, the Taj! We left our room at sunrise and walked over to the gates surrounding this esteemed temple that we had heard so much about. As we walked through the gates and actually saw the Taj Mahal with the Indian sun rising behind it, our breath was unexpectedly taken away with wonder. It was magnificent! Mughal emperor Shah Jahan bankrupted his kingdom to build this mausoleum, but all these years later it brings people from all over the world to an obscure little town in rural India to bask in it's splendor.
From Agra we took that
long hot ride back to Delhi to catch a train to Chandigarh.......
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| Monkeys everywhere |
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| Ah! Chai and Palak Paneer |
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| Harmonium |
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| Giving an offering and making three wishes |
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| This little girl followed me all around the temple. |
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| The little black dots are huge bee hives on the ceiling... |
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| Agra is known for this red stone. |
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| My little friend. |
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| BEE HIVES!!! |
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| Just a goat wondering around the temple... |
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| Indians have a spiritual respect for cows and thusly they can do whatever they want. They roam around the streets, sleep in the middle of the road, and beg for food like dogs. And, since Indians feel it is really bad kharma to disrespect a cow, they always feed them. |
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| Taj Mahal |
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| Of course! |
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| On the balcony of the Taj Mahal |
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| The cool marble of the Taj was a great relief from the 110 degree weather. |
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Amazing photos!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen you and Daniel more beautiful than in the picture of you both sitting on the gorgeous white marble floor of the Taj Mahal. So happy for you both!
ReplyDeleteCaption to the last photo:
ReplyDeleteDon't you get fresh with me, oh little one!
I love monkeys but those Indian monkeys freaked me out. They didn't look overly healthy and got WAY too close with their hissing and teeth-flashing! At least yours seems to be leashed.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are going to FREEZE when you get to London. We had hail this week!