The Taj Mahal. Incomparable place of beauty. (Taj Mahal)

Member Name: GillMN

Product:	Taj Mahal
Date:	20/09/08 (192 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sheer extravagant marble poetry.

Disadvantages: None.

The Taj Mahal. Stuff of legends.

There are a few theories about what the name means, the simplest being that it is a Persian phrase meaning 'place of the crown.'

I was with a party of twelve very different people when I visited the Taj Mahal. Afterwards as we sat over dinner and talked about the day, it became clear that not one member of our party was not moved to tears by this incredibly beautiful sight.

It truly is breathtaking in it's symmetry and purity.

I had wanted to see the Taj since being a small child. My uncle was a Royal Marine and sent me postcards from all over the world. One day a postcard of the Taj Mahal arrived and that was it for me! Forty years later I finally got there!

To approach the Taj Mahal and grounds you must leave your vehicles in a car park and be taken by electric bus to the first gateway. This is to reduce pollution damage.

This gateway is a marvel in itself. It is a huge and graceful white marble arch. Inlaid into the arch in semi precious stone are words from the koran. The person who designed the arch very cleverly increased the size of the writing all the way up so it appears to be a uniform size and as readable at the top as at the bottom.

Through the arch and along a path where monkeys play on the walls and will jump down to try to rifle unwary visitors handbags! (Have you ever seen a monkey trying to use lipstick?)

Then the second Gateway in which you have to turn through 90 degrees. This was designed deliberatelyso that your first view of the Taj Mahal and gardens is framed by the Archway in front of you. A stunningly simple but effective idea.

And there it is. You will find yourself holding your breath in awe. I have travelled widely and seen many amazing things but I have never seen anything as ethereal and harmonious as this building and it's surrounds.

There is a perfect symmetry to the gardens and water features that lead up to the Taj Mahal. It is reflected in the long rectangular lakes and seems to float like a mirage. It's four corner minarets tilt outwards ever so slightly and the pull of their their weight acts as a support for the mausoleum itself. The tilt also means that in the event of a natural disaster they would fall away from the main structure.

The lower levels of the Taj are decorated with a broad band of the most intricate inlay of semi precious stones, agates, carnelian, lapiz lazuli, jasper, onyx, too many to name really.

The upper storeys and towers are pure white marble. Looking incongrouos in the domed roof are large metal rings. I asked the guide what they were there for and his reply astonished me. Apparently during WW II, there was a plot to bomb the Taj Mahal and totally destroy it. Hitler had been advised that nothing would demoralise the defenders of the Indian sub continent more than the destruction of their national monument.

The hooks had been part of the way that camouflage had been attached to the whole site for the duration of the war. I thought that this piece of the history of the Taj Mahal demonstrated how important and iconic the place was and still is.

Ironically, it had fallen into ruin and then further defaced by British soldiers at the time of the Indian rebellion. A British viceroy ordered it's complete restoration in 1908.

The Taj was built as a Mausoleum. It was an outpouring of grief from Shah Jehan for the loss of his wife Mumtaz. She died giving birth to their fourteenth child.

It was completed in 1648. There is some argument regarding when it was started because there are quite a few buildings in the complex. One of the outbuildings is a mosque which is a work of art in it's own right. Most reckon the whole complex was over twenty years in the construction.

There is always someone who wants to ruin a good love story and recently there has been some argument about whether it was originally built as a mausoleum or not. I don't know enough to comment so I will stick with the story I like!

The mythology goes that Shah Jehan had ideas about building a matching black Taj across the river as his own mausoleum.

His son despaired of the way his father was throwing money away and had him imprisoned in a fort further down the river.

The room his father was imprisoned in had little mirrors set in the walls so that wherever Sha Jehan was in the room he could see his beloved Taj Mahal.

We visited the fortress and when I was looking at the mirrors I couldn't decide if they were an act of mercy on the part of his son, or a refined torture for nearly bankrupting the family.

Shah Jahan was eventually laid to rest next to his beloved third wife Mumtaz. The sarcophagus of Mumtaz is absolutely in the middle of the building. The only assymetrical feature is the sarcophagus of her husband at her side.

There are two or three buildings on the edges of the fabulous gardens which house displays of the history and art contemporary to the building of the Taj. These are well worth a visit. There are a few portraits of the son who imprisoned Shah Jahan along with one or two portraits of his brothers. One of the caretakers amused me by pointing every so often at the portraits and intoning. "Very bad son. Very naughty boy!" and rolling his eyes in despair. Then pointing at another son and saying. "Good son! Very good son! He kissed his Daddy for breakfast." I don't know who taught him that phrase but I suspect something had got lost in translation.


If you want to know more you can visit.

http://www.tajmahal.org.uk/history.html


Most of this review I have written from memory, there may be some factual innacuracy, I hope not.
What is absolutely accurate is my memory of it being a place of dreams lost and dreams come true.

Thank you for reading this lengthy review. I hope I have managed to convey some of the sheer magnificience that is the Taj Mahal.

Summary: If there is one thing you should see in your life, this is it.