2004-01-07
Crown Palace
The first stop on the trip was theTaj Mahal!
We woke up early only to find our friend Mr. Fog all over town. We had not realized that December is fog season in north India. We drove to a parking lot for the Taj where we found a line of tour guides offering their services, as well as younger boys selling disposable cameras and spare batteries.
From there, we had the option to get to the Taj by rickshaw, camel, or horse...we chose rickshaw.
The ticket booth had two lines; Indian residents were charged a nominal entrance fee of 20 rupees (50 cents) while foreigners were charged 750 rupees (17 dollars). From there we proceeded to the security checkpoint where we had to surrender our cell phones.
From there, the tour began. First stop was a plaque describing the construction of the Taj Mahal. I'm sure everybody knows the story of how Shah Jahan built the Taj as a tomb for one of his three wives. He had also planned to build a black Taj as a tomb for himself, but his plans were interrupted by his power-hungry son who felt his father was squandering the kingdom's riches. He usurped the throne and Shah Jahan was forced to watch most of the 22-year construction of the Taj from his prison. His final request to his son was to be entombed with his wife in the Taj.
Then we came to themain gate. On the center section, you might be able to make out eleven little white onion-shaped domes, there are another eleven on the other side of the gate. Together, they represent the 22 years of the Taj's construction. At our arrival, the fog was so thick that we couldn't see it from the main gate, a mere 100 yards away! However, it started to clear up a little towards the end of the tour.
From the main gate, we walked down thegarden to the Taj. There we put on shoe coverings to help with keeping things clean. As we walked around the Taj, the guide explained how all of the artwork on the Taj is no paint or print. Any color you see is 'marble-inlay' work. Meaning they etched out a little space in the white marble, then cut a piece of onyx, or some other semi-precious stone, to perfectly fit into that space. Some of the more amazing examples of this work can be seen in thisrectangular frame. The frame is actually the first verse of the Koran written in Urdu. The guide tried to explain how not only is this text marble-inlay, but there is also an optical illusion at work. By gradually increasing the spacing in the lettering, the text looks the same size even as you look up at it. This allows you to read it without being bothered by effects of perspective. On the inside, there is even more intricate work featuring even more precious (i.e. precious-er) stones. There are enumerable red lotus flowers, each only 1.5" wide and comprising of 64 separate pieces of stone. So intricate, so beautiful. The actual tombs that you see are replicas of the ones that contain the bodies of Shah Jahan and his wife. The real containers lie in the basement and nobody is allowed down there.
The four spires surrounding the Taj are also quite impressive. Why? because they are all tilted slight away from the main structure. Why? so that in case of earthquake or damage, they will fall out instead of in.
On either side of the Taj areidentical structures. One is a guesthouse, and the other is a mosque. Every Friday, the Taj is closed to visitors and services are held in this mosque.
After the tour, we were courted by photographers that promised to develop professional quality pictures of us in front of the Taj in a mere twenty minutes. However, the fog was a little too much, and the pictures didn't turn out well.
I took some pictures of the Taj next to its reflection pools, but again, the fog was in the way.
Thisshot, reminded me ofStanford's quad :-)
Lastly, we stopped off in a little store that sells fine examples of the marble-inlay work in many forms. From pillboxes, to furniture they had it all. Some of the artists were actually working on small pieces out front. It was really interesting to see them work. Finally, we asked the guide about the fate of the workers, artists and engineers who worked on the Taj. He said that stories of their hands being chopped off are apocryphal...
Up next is wedding talk!