The name "Taj Mahal" comes from two words: Taj that means crown and Mahal that means palace or crown palace. The original name translated to English as the Graveyard of Queen Mumtaj Mahal. When she was about to deliver her 14th child at age 39, she realized that she was seriously ill and knew that she would die. She asked her husband Shan Jahan to promise her three things: (1) to build the most beautiful mausoleum in the world for her body, (2) to never marry again in his earthly life, and (3) to be very kind to his children. The emperor kept those promises much better that his third son who wanted to be emperor so he killed his two older brothers and imprisoned his father at age 68 in the Agra Fort until he died at age 76 looking at the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal has 208 rooms that were decorated with hanging carpets while the original floors were covered with carpets. A wooden model of the Taj Mahal was constructed before the work began on the marble structure. Elephants carried the marble 200 kilometers each from the quarry to the site in the form of a relay race. It took 22,000 workers working 24/7 for 22 years from 1631 to 1653 to complete this Wonder of the World.
Our guide Ali was very knowledgeable but spoke in a monotone and sounded as if he were reading a script but there was no physical evidence of a script. After passing a huge bonfire made of cow patties and a colorful chalk drawing on the road in front of it, we entered the Taj Mahal through the East Gate. The writing on the gate was from the Koran and is black marble inlaid in white marble. The writing grows larger from bottom to top to create the optical illusion that it is all the same size. Our guide told us to tell the professional photographers that we had been here before so they would not hound us to take our pictures. The bad news at the security check was that Punxsutawney Phil could not accompany us. About 10,000 people visit the Taj Mahal daily but groundhogs must be on the forbidden list.
As we entered the gate, I heard a young boy beside me say to his parents and guide, "This is so exciting." My sentiments exactly. Photographs cannot do this place justice. On the gate are 11 plus 11 domes, one for each year it took to build the Taj Mahal.
The dome is a double dome that is hollow in between the two. The minarets on the four sides of the Taj Mahal are not straight but bend outward so that in the case of an earthquake, they would fall away from the main structure. The gardens are English in style because the wives of the British nobles would come to the Taj Mahal for picnics and instruct the gardeners on what to do with the gardens. The fountain at the center of the reflecting ponds is equal distance from the four gates. The Muslims, who believe in paradise, think that the gardens resemble paradise. Ginger had loaned me a long cotton skirt that she had asked me to wear to the Taj Mahal and have a picture taken on the bench where Princess Diana sat when she visited. Unfortunately, all these Japanese tourists beat me to it, and we did not want to wait. Also, I had promised Punxsutawney Phil that he would be in the picture.
The building on the left of the Taj Mahal is a mosque while the building on the right had been used as a guest house that was built to provide symmetry. They are identical in every respect except only the one on the right can be used as a mosque because it faces east.
There are 24 different types of precious and semi-precious stones inlaid in the marble to form the floral patterns. The best time to visit the Taj Mahal is by moonlight when all the stones sparkle and shine. Unfortunately, the structure is only open by moonlight five nights a month and only 50 people can visit each night.
At last, we put on our glamorous red woven shoe covers so we could walk up to the patio and put our cameras away because no pictures were allowed inside the structure. The small crystals in the marble shine and sparkle from the rays of the sun. From every point, the Taj Mahal is symmetrical except for the size of the coffins. Shan Jahan did not want to be buried there but rather in the Black Taj Mahal that he planned to have built across the river and connected to the Taj Mahal by a silver bridge so that people could walk between them. However, his son took his father as a prisoner before that plan could be completed and promised that he would use the money that was to have been spent on the Black Taj Mahal to take care of the poor people. We seriously doubt that the son ever kept his campaign promise.
While we were part of the throng of people inside the Taj Mahal, flashes from cameras kept going off and the security staff kept blowing their whistles. We asked our guide why people were taking photographs. He answered, "Taking pictures inside is against the law but if everyone else is doing it, you can do it." This seemed like the traffic laws and stoplights that many people in India chose to disobey. We did not take any photographs inside.
After we came out of the Taj Mahal, Ken asked me, "Was it everything that you expected. My one-word answer was, "More." When we had walked back to the East Gate and were ready to exit, I spotted the young man who was beside me when we entered and asked our guide if we could wait until I spoke with him. It turned out that he was an 8-year-old from Vancouver, British Columbia, who was on vacation with his parents. My question to him was, "How do you feel after your visit?" His answer was, "I've been to the Taj Mahal. It was very, very exciting." Bill Clinton could not have quoted anyone better.
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