Golden Triangle of India

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Saturday, 12 December 2015 - Arrived in Agra after a 3-hour drive from Delhi, visited the Tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah ("Baby Taj") with its intricate marble inlay work, walked the gardens of Mehtab Bagh across the Yamuna River, enjoyed sunset views of the Taj Mahal from the exterior, saw monkeys near the mosque, attended the Red Fort sound and light show in the evening, and ended the day with dinner at the Trident Hotel.

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After a 3-hour road trip from Delhi we arrived in Agra. The first stop on the tour was the Tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah, it is here that we meet our guide for Agra.

This beautiful building is a Mughal mausoleum. Sometimes called the "Baby Taj", the tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal.
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The entire building was covered in designs of precious stones. This would continue to the Taj Mahal and many other buildings. There is no paint all the designs and images are made using inlaid stones.

The walls are made up of white marble from Rajasthan encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations - carnelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx, and topaz formed into images of cypress trees and wine bottles, or more elaborate decorations like cut fruit or vases containing bouquets. Many consider the interior decoration to have inspired that of the Taj Mahal, which was built by her stepson, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
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The tomb, built between 1622 and 1628 represents a transition between the first phase of monumental Mughal architecture primarily built from red sandstone with marble decorations, as in Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and Akbar's tomb in Sikandra - to its second phase, based on white marble and inlay, most elegantly realized in the Taj Mahal.
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Once across the Yamuna River, bougainvillea frames the Baby Taj.

The mausoleum is set in a large cruciform garden crisscrossed by water courses and walkways. The mausoleum itself covers about twenty-three meters square and is built on a base about fifty meters square and about one meter high. On each corner are hexagonal towers, about thirteen meters tall.


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After the Baby Taj we drove along the Yamuna River to the gardens of Mehtab Bagh (Moonlight Garden)which are directly across from the Taj Mahal. The garden was designed as an integral part of the Taj Mahal complex in the riverfront terrace pattern. Its width was identical to that of the rest of the Taj Mahal.
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Once we were on the other side of the Yamuna River we visited the Taj Mahal. We entered from the east gate with quite a bit of security requiring me to unpack my camera.

The gate leads to an inner courtyard as do the other two gates. Then visitors proceed through this inner gate.
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My first glimpse of the Taj Mahal from the interior of the gatehouse.

The Taj Mahal (Crown of Palaces) is a white marble mausoleum. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628-1658), to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is the centerpiece of a 42-acre complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a fortified wall.
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Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated of $827 million in today's dollars. The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.
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On the left (western) side of the Taj Mahal is a mosque where there are 569 prayer rugs in black marble.
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It was Saturday afternoon at the Taj Mahal. The sun was setting but still the crowds wrapped around the monument two times. We decided to visit inside the Taj Mahal when it opened the next day and spent Saturday on the exterior.
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The line to enter dwarfed by the taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than two million visitors in 2001, which increased to about eight million in 2014. A two-tier pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens and a more expensive one for foreigners.
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While we were walking near the mosque a monkey dropped from the high walls surrounding the Taj Mahal - almost landing on top of us. He scampered away very quickly to the far side of the mosque where he allowed me to take a picture.
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The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you." The calligraphy was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq. NMuch of the calligraphy is composed of florid thuluth script made of jasper or black marble inlaid in white marble panels. Higher panels are written in slightly larger script to reduce the skewing effect when viewed from below.
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That evening we went to the sound and light show at the Red Fort. It was "ok" as a light show but the narrative about the Mughal kings was very informative. We also had a sense for the fort which we would visit the next day.

A courtyard of the fort illuminated with the Moti Masjid mosque in the background.
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As we were leaving the fort I noticed an old Pepsi sign on a low wall just outside the gates.

End of a long day with a nice dinner at the Trident Hotel.
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