We left Ladakh on a commercial flight from the nearby military airport. In the thin air, the plane took ages to lift off the ground and just cleared the mountains surrounding the valley. As it climbed, the Himalayas unfolded their tortured white peaks all the way to the distant horizon.
I had one more thing to do before leaving India – a pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal. We took a bus south from Deli on a hugely crowded road to Agra in Uttar Pradesh. The city was the capital of all India under the Mughals.
The Taj effortlessly transcends all the frippery and commercialisation that surrounds one of the world’s most famous buildings. It was described by the poet Tagore as ‘a teardrop on the face of eternity’ and volumes have been written about its marble perfection. But few words can do it justice – you simply have to see it and be amazed. It’s said to have been built by Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz, but is also thought to have been designed around the Sufi notion of heaven. See it in the soft glow of dawn before the crowds get there.
Across the Yamuna River is the spectacular Red Fort, built of carved sandstone in the 17th century as the seat and stronghold of the Mughal Empire. It’s enormous, filled with elegant buildings, beautiful stone carvings and intricate marble mosaic work. From its ramparts you can see the Taj Mahal reflected in the river waters.
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