The Taj Mahal

Sunday morning we woke up 4am (dark and early) so we could see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. I have to admit that I knew nothing about the Taj Mahal before I visited Agra, but since learning about it, I know of no better love story. The marriage between Shah Jahan and the Persian Princess Mumtaz Mahal was a love marriage. This is significant to note because in India, arranged marriage is a part of the culture. It is common, and it is respected. Even today arranged marriages take place. They had 14 children, 8 dying during or shortly after child birth. The queen died at age 39 due to complications with the birth of her fourteenth child

After she died, the king had the Taj Mahal built in her loving memory. The Taj Mahal is actually a mausoleum and the queen's tomb lies within it. The Taj Mahal is 1.4 million tons of marble. I didn't know that number existed. It's built on a foundation of tiek wood and it sits next to the Yamuna river, which happens to be the second holiest river in India. It is said to be sacred in that it frees one from the torments of death- coincidence? I think not. In all this time, the Taj has never sunk into the river bank. Can you imagine the foundation beneath 1.4 million tons of marble? It took 22 years to complete and about 22,000 of the best artisan workers and craftsmen from many countries. It is perfectly symmetrical, down to the finest details in the surrounding landscape. It is the only historic monument in the world  that symbolizes love. This man did nothing less than the best for the love of his life (men of the world, if you want to impress a girl, take some tips from Shah Jahan). Even after two other arranged marriages in his lifetime, he never celebrated his love for them like he did for her. His two wives from arranged marriages were buried outside the walls of he monument. When he died, he was buried beside her, becoming the only asymmetrical portion of the Taj Mahal.

I was talking to my friend, Alyssa, about the Taj Mahal and how much the king must have loved his wife to build such an incredible wonder in her memory. I decided that Heaven's gates will not be pearl-- but marble. The same marble as the Taj Mahal that glows when illuminated by sun or moonlight. Isn't it incredible to think about a love story like theirs, and then to put into perspective how much God loves us? I'm sure he has built us all palaces out of marble simply because he loves and misses us. If this is the case, how much more beautiful could heaven get? I assure you there is nothing more beautiful.

Namaste!

Capstone here we come!

Dani * Me * Kendra * Janeen

After visiting the Taj Mahal we had a bit of a break so we could sleep, but when we reconvened we set out to visit another shop. It Is owned by the same family line that originally built the Taj Mahal. They specialized in marble inlaying of semi precious stones including onyx, lapis from Afghanistan, mother pearl , carnelian from Arabia, jasper, turquoise from Tibet, etc. The marble is hand carved and the stones are also cut and perfected by hand. The colors are vivid and bright.  My favorite is the Carnelian stone. It's orange, and when you shine light on it, it glows and illuminates the stone. The marble carving and inlaying of stone is still a family business and the glue they use is still a family secret. 

If you know how much I love the Taj Mahal, you'll understand when I tell you that I was so in love with this little shop. There weren't enough rupees in my pocket for me to purchase works of art from here, but I took some pictures of the details so you can enjoy them too.

Before we left Agra we stopped by McDonalds for a much needed and anticipated ice cream run. I paid 14 rupees for it-- which is about a quarter in the States. We said goodbye to our Agra tour guide, Ramesh, and started out on our five hour drive to Dehli. 

We spent our last night in India in Dehli, all dreading goodbye, but excited to return home. We picked up personal pizzas at Pizza Hut and headed up to our rooms to eat. And, can you believe it? I set off the strip on the back of our room key again-- just like I did our first day here (it only happens when Kendra and I are roommates). We had a good laugh about that.

I'm grateful we were saying goodbye to Dehli, because if I had had to leave India and say goodbye to my friends at RSO in the same day, I think It would have been so much harder. We celebrated by piling all 14 of us into one hotel room and watching Austenland. We even managed to get some popcorn for the occasion. And then the day faded and we fell asleep, dreaming of India.