The Taj Mahal - The Most Beautiful Building I've Ever Seen

The Taj Mahal was the reason I wanted to go to India - I really wanted to see it and they refused to move it to another country so I had to go to India!

We had travelled from Delhi to Agra by car on a near empty toll road. The scenery en route was quite beautiful. People were working in the paddy fields, there were areas popular for brick making as they harvested the straw and hay and we saw antelope and monkeys. The contrast when we arrived in Agra couldn't have been greater. The roads were just dirt tracks and we were surrounded by poverty. The most disturbing sight was of a man sitting outside a medical centre. His daughter waved cheerfully whilst the small child he held in his arms was still and listless.

We were relieved to get to the hotel, the Oberoi Amarvilas where we were greeted with a yellow bindi on our forehead and a refreshing drink. Every bedroom in the hotel has a view of the Taj Mahal. Whilst there is smog in the Autumn, it was still quite exciting to see.

Our guide picked us up and we were taken by golf buggy from the hotel to about 200 metres from the Taj Mahal. Ordinary traffic is prohibited from getting close. There are queues for the locals and for tourists and then for men and women as there are security checks where everyone is frisked. Tourists paid £7.50 to get in, whereas locals paid 20p.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the Taj Mahal. For this sunset trip we were in the grounds only and did not go inside. As you enter the Taj Mahal there is an entry gateway, the arch of which lines up perfectly with the arched entranceway on the Taj Mahal. The first site through this arch of the Taj Mahal is breathtaking.

The guide explained the history and took us to plenty of spots to take photos where the Taj was framed by an archway or the bough of a tree. He even lent us his Ray Bans and took a photo of the Taj Mahal reflected in them. We had some quiet time alone to take in the beauty and the romance. As the sun set, the colour of the building changed from a creamy white to a subtle pink.

The Taj Mahal is a tomb dedicated to the favourite wife of a Mughal who died whilst giving birth to their 14th child. It took 22 years to build and during its construction his son had him imprisoned in the Red Fort in Agra but did give him a view of the ongoing building works. When the Mughal died he was buried next to his wife.

The building is entirely symmetrical and is made of marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. It has four, pillars or minarets on each corner and has a mosque to the left with an identical replica on its right.

We were back at the Taj Mahal for sunrise the following morning. At 6.00 a.m. we joined a long queue of tourists. Once inside we made straight for the Princess Diana bench for photos and then went inside the building. We had to wear protective plastic over shoes to preserve the marble floors. Close up we could see the remarkable workmanship and the guide used a torch to show the luminescence of the semi precious stones. The inside is tiny and contains the upper tombstones of the Mughal and his wife, with the actual tombs being underground.

Back outside we stood on the east facing side as the sun rose above the tree line and caught some of the stones. It does this for just a few minutes every day so not many people see it. It is elements like this that makes the Taj Mahal the most beautiful building we have seen. Often when you see buildings that you are excited about seeing it can be a disappointment. The Taj Mahal lived up to all of our expectations and more.

The thing that we found hard to comprehend was that this is a building for two dead people. Not a palace where people live but a place one of them never saw and the other watched being built from a distance whilst in prison. The other significant contrast was the amount of wealth tied up in this building whereas just on the other side of the gate, people are living in squalor. Rubbish litters the streets, cows and stray dogs roam aimlessly. The streets also smell of urine as they are used as a public toilet by the locals. It was on these streets where the locals sold tacky souvenirs. As the Taj Mahal is visited by so many and is the most popular tourist destination in India, we did wonder why the area hadn't been cleaned up by the Government.

We were sad to say goodbye to the Taj Mahal but not to Agra. We were really pleased to have visited this most wonderful monument but we are sure we will not be making a return v