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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Travel to Taj...dream come true

                                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                        Food
                                                                                                                                        Transport
                                                                                                                                        What to see
                                                                                                                                 Maps inside post
Travel to Taj...crazy jump

The idea of visiting Agra and experiencing the Taj,was of my friend Jijimon.Distant relative of his ,had come from kerala and they desired to see the greatest monument of all times,The Taj mahal.He planned for our weekend at Agra and invited us to be part of it ,and as you know i don't turn down these kind of offers.







Travelling for fun
     The D day came and I was more than ready to travel to history.A van was booked which could easily pick up 20 person in one go.It did take us in one go but the real problem was that air condition was not working.That being the hot month of June,we were sweating like anything in the morning itself.We could not do anything about it except complaining to the driver.He was busy driving his van ,unruffled by any comment given by us.The music being played in the van was becoming irritable because of the hot condition of the van.




     After a run of 5-6 hours we did reach the city of Mugals,Agra.There was a sigh of relief as we got down from the van. The condition outside the van were more unforgiving. It was a hot sunny day and road were scorching with heat. You could feel the heat wave on the skin and eyes could not open properly due to excessive sunlight.




Everybody ran to get a ice cream from the vendor. The ice cream was surely provided to us but it turned out to be a fake. It was very bitter and rubbery and we could not gulp it down our throats, so we spitted it out. We promised ourselves not to take any thing from the street vendors


    Our group was introduced to a new guide who was more like a joker in a circus. He spoke funny English and accent. At times, we could not even understand what he was saying. Our first stop was Red Fort of Agra built by Sahajahan of Mughal dynasty. It is a marvelous piece of architecture and is made of red stones. It is a fort where the military used to stay and it had water body all around the fort. It is said that crocodiles were reared in those waters. Red Fort has a dewan-e-aam and dewan=e-khas and lovely garden adds to its beauty. Taj Mahal can be viewed from the Red Fort. It is said that Sahajahan was captured by his son, Aurangzeb and kept in Red Fort. He used to stare Ta j Mahal from there.


    Our next destination was Taj Mahal. This magnificent structure comes under the UNESCO world heritage sight. It was built by Sahajahan in memory of his wife Mumtaj Mahal. It is domed shaped structure inspired by Islamic architecture and made up of marble. It took 22 years to built Taj Mahal.


       We had to get down from our van, quite far away from Taj Mahal because motorised vehicles are not allowed in its vicinity. Due to pollution, Taj Mahal colour is fading that is why we had to walk up to Taj Mahal. Horse carts and electric vans are available for those who prefer that.


      When we entred Taj complex it seemed we had been transported to a past era. Beautiful Taj Mahal with backdrop of blue sky was amazing. The garden complex inside had been painstakingly maintained. The fountain at the garden made Taj mahal look heavenly.


     The floor of Taj mahal was very hot as we entered the main Taj mahal structure.Inside of Taj mahal are placed the graves of great lovers,Mumtaz and Shah jahan.The inside of Taj mahal,it was cool air blowing in spite of the heat waves blowing outside.


   We took loads of photographs of Taj mahal and explored each corner of the beautiful place.It was a
great experience visiting Taj and I salute Shah jahan for such a lovely gift to India










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