Stories from the open road » Blog Archive

Jul

'08

30 July 2008 @ 5:36 pm by Aaron

Tagore compared the Taj Mahal to a teardrop that glistened “spotlessly bright on the cheek of time”.

We left Mumbai for the north on June 21. Nadia wanted to see a few things in Delhi she missed during her last visit and insisted that I couldn’t come to India and not see the Taj Mahal!

We stayed in the bustling bazaar/backpacker district of Paharanj in Delhi and spent the first day touring sites in the area, including the Red Fort and Jama Masjid – one of the largest mosques in India commissioned by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan. We were initially caught off guard by the aggressive tactics of touts and con artists in Delhi. It took us over 30 minutes to navigate through the web of stories and people trying to distract us from visiting the official tourist office at the New Delhi train station.

By the second day in Delhi, we were becoming pros at avoiding scams. We took prepaid taxis to the newer neighborhoods of Delhi to see the India gate (or war memorial depending on who you ask), spent several hours in the fantastic National Museum, which houses an amazing collection of historical artifacts from the Indus region and, of course, spent some time shopping in Connaught Place – the second largest financial and commercial center in India (after Mumbai).

On the 23rd, we took a train to Agra and hired a local taxi for the day. We started with a trip to Fatehpur Sikri about 40km outside of Agra. Fatehpur Sikri is a wonderfully preserved fortress city built by the Mogul Emperor Akbar to serve as his capital. Lack of water in the area limited the stay of the Moguls to less than 15 years, but the intricately designed city provides a great glimpse into the Mogul era in India.

We spent so much time at Fatehpur Sikri, we decided to head straight for the Taj Mahal to make sure we had enough time to visit before our return train to Delhi. The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The mausoleum is architecturally famous for its perfectly symmetrical design and white marble facade.

Visitors from all cultures, countries and religions come to marvel at the aesthetically beautiful and deeply moving gesture of love and devotion. It seemed fitting to spend the afternoon admiring this tribute to love on our honeymoon.