Agra India 9/07

Agra, IN - Taj Mahal
Sept. 16, 2007

A closer shot from the east. You can see a little more of the detail.

This is the front entrance . Everything you see (except the inlays) is marvle even the screens around the door and window. The screens are solid pieces of marble carved out like screens.

Here's a closeup of the inlay detail. The guides show you this cool thing with flashlights. When you put light behind or up to the marble, it looks translucent. It's really cool, because the marble appears to light up. As you move the flashlight around you can see how it works with the various precious stones. The black or blue stones block the light. The lighter semi precious stones like the yellow and red actually diffuse the light making it all look brighter. The sparkling red flower in the middle I think is mother of pearl.

Inside is the cenotaph for Mumtaz and Shah Jahan. It was not Shah Jahan's original plan to be burried with his wife, but his son overruled that when he actually died. The cenotaph is surrounded by more marble screens with intricate inlays.

The center cenotaph is Mumtaz's and Shah Jahan's is to the left. The actual tombs are in the basement where the bodies are laid in dirt and facing Mecca per Muslim custom.

This is the mosque on the west side of the Taj.

A picture of the mosque, one of the Taj's towers and the Yamuna river. In the distance you can just make out the Red Fort of Agra.

I think this is the northern entrance.

We took a path along the east side through the trees to get back to the entrance gate. I thought the views from the path through the trees were amazing.

There's a few of these.

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&nbs;

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