15 October 2013
After an eventful first day in Agra, I woke up at 5:30 am for the sunrise view of the Taj Mahal. This in itself is quite incredible: after so many weeks of jetlag related sleep problems <<< caused by late working hours and the fact that to be able to sing over 3 hours 6 days a week i do need minimum 6-7hours of sleep so if no sleep arrives by 5am i have to stay in bed till at least midday>>> in Agra I had - twice in a row - a breakfast! and a breakfast before 9am! And as no sleep on Monday 14/10 made me so knackered that I was fast asleep by 11pm, ergo able to work happily on Tuesday despite an early start.
I got ready in 5 minutes and took a cycle riksha to the gate - I could have walked as my hotel was barely an 800 metres away from the main entrance open for sunrise, but come on - Taj Mahal? I had to arrive in style :) I was welcomed by an already 100 strong queue (women & men in separate lines) but I was still at its relative beginning.. Problem was the sun rose (or it seemed so as night became day in moments) and the door kept on being locked & queue kept on growing.. I read in a guidebook that seeing Taj at sunrise is the best way to avoid crowds.. Well if hundreds and thousands of people who entered the gate is not crowds, i really do not want to imagine what crowds means..:)
We entered thru the metal detector gate and while passing thru it I met a lovely Australian lady who was there with her Indian husband & his family... It took barely seconds: we saw it and we stopped... Everyone did.. You do read that it is amazing and breathtaking and all & most incredible thing in the world, most beautiful monument etc, and you do expect something unbelieveable and yet when you
actually do see it all you can do is just stop and stare in awe... It stares quietly back at you and smiles in its grandeur.. And you keep staring, shy and unable to move or say anything.. Pure awe..then you notice the sun peeping out in a red halo on the side of Taj and the whole sight becomes even more fantabulous...We all kept staring and clicking pictures with anything that was able to commemorate this sight a d slowly moved on the approach the monument from one of its sides and enter the main
mauzoleum.. In the melee of visitors I lost my Australian friend and also missed a chance to get a
proper guide explaining to me all mysterious matical details of this heavenly fablesque creation... However, having noticed another single traveller having a private tour I asked if i could join them and share the cost (my covisitor was a lovely gentlman from Utah and surprised me with covering the cost for me at the end). We admired the quality of the stonework, the sheer amount and beauty of the precious stones, the peace and grandeur of the construction.. And the suposedly Einstein shaped shadow on one of the walls outside:).Yet apart from the indescribeable beauty of the Taj, I believe it attracts so many visitors also because of its history: after all this is a monument to love: heartbroken emperor contructs the biggest mauzoleum ever to his beloved wife, refuses to remarry (well to be honest, if i was to be the next wife after taj i would demand something more as well, and the kingdom budget may not survive that this time;) and later on, when dethroned and imprisoned by his own son, his only wish is to be able to look at the building where his beloved was burried & be laid to rest with her as well. All for 13 long years oh house arrest, 13 long years of longing, missing, memories... Wasn't it more heartwrenching to look every day at a reminder of your misery? And yet, could he have known that after so many years, all that pain misery and heartbreak would be somehow one could say paid back by the transformation of the whole area & attracting millions of tourists? So the tragedy of his life became the source of the success of the region and his people... I wandered around thinking about the emperor lonely years, hoping he could see from above the positive results of what came to being as a symbol of grief, and now it has become a symbol of the beauty of India. Taj Mahal reminds me there is a reason to be hopeful, always and anywhere, even if we cannot see that reason right away and right now.
After an eventful first day in Agra, I woke up at 5:30 am for the sunrise view of the Taj Mahal. This in itself is quite incredible: after so many weeks of jetlag related sleep problems <<< caused by late working hours and the fact that to be able to sing over 3 hours 6 days a week i do need minimum 6-7hours of sleep so if no sleep arrives by 5am i have to stay in bed till at least midday>>> in Agra I had - twice in a row - a breakfast! and a breakfast before 9am! And as no sleep on Monday 14/10 made me so knackered that I was fast asleep by 11pm, ergo able to work happily on Tuesday despite an early start.
I got ready in 5 minutes and took a cycle riksha to the gate - I could have walked as my hotel was barely an 800 metres away from the main entrance open for sunrise, but come on - Taj Mahal? I had to arrive in style :) I was welcomed by an already 100 strong queue (women & men in separate lines) but I was still at its relative beginning.. Problem was the sun rose (or it seemed so as night became day in moments) and the door kept on being locked & queue kept on growing.. I read in a guidebook that seeing Taj at sunrise is the best way to avoid crowds.. Well if hundreds and thousands of people who entered the gate is not crowds, i really do not want to imagine what crowds means..:)
We entered thru the metal detector gate and while passing thru it I met a lovely Australian lady who was there with her Indian husband & his family... It took barely seconds: we saw it and we stopped... Everyone did.. You do read that it is amazing and breathtaking and all & most incredible thing in the world, most beautiful monument etc, and you do expect something unbelieveable and yet when you
actually do see it all you can do is just stop and stare in awe... It stares quietly back at you and smiles in its grandeur.. And you keep staring, shy and unable to move or say anything.. Pure awe..then you notice the sun peeping out in a red halo on the side of Taj and the whole sight becomes even more fantabulous...We all kept staring and clicking pictures with anything that was able to commemorate this sight a d slowly moved on the approach the monument from one of its sides and enter the main
mauzoleum.. In the melee of visitors I lost my Australian friend and also missed a chance to get a
proper guide explaining to me all mysterious matical details of this heavenly fablesque creation... However, having noticed another single traveller having a private tour I asked if i could join them and share the cost (my covisitor was a lovely gentlman from Utah and surprised me with covering the cost for me at the end). We admired the quality of the stonework, the sheer amount and beauty of the precious stones, the peace and grandeur of the construction.. And the suposedly Einstein shaped shadow on one of the walls outside:).Yet apart from the indescribeable beauty of the Taj, I believe it attracts so many visitors also because of its history: after all this is a monument to love: heartbroken emperor contructs the biggest mauzoleum ever to his beloved wife, refuses to remarry (well to be honest, if i was to be the next wife after taj i would demand something more as well, and the kingdom budget may not survive that this time;) and later on, when dethroned and imprisoned by his own son, his only wish is to be able to look at the building where his beloved was burried & be laid to rest with her as well. All for 13 long years oh house arrest, 13 long years of longing, missing, memories... Wasn't it more heartwrenching to look every day at a reminder of your misery? And yet, could he have known that after so many years, all that pain misery and heartbreak would be somehow one could say paid back by the transformation of the whole area & attracting millions of tourists? So the tragedy of his life became the source of the success of the region and his people... I wandered around thinking about the emperor lonely years, hoping he could see from above the positive results of what came to being as a symbol of grief, and now it has become a symbol of the beauty of India. Taj Mahal reminds me there is a reason to be hopeful, always and anywhere, even if we cannot see that reason right away and right now.
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