By Nigel Wright features@algarveresident.com
Nigel Wright and his wife Sue moved to Portugal five years ago and live in the countryside near Paderne with their three dogs. They lived and worked in the Far and Middle East during the 1980s and 90s and although now retired, still continue to travel as much possible and enjoy new cultural experiences. His other interests include tennis, gardening, photography and petanque.
The slow train to Agra
In the murky pre-dawn light, the early morning express to Agra rumbled into Delhi station. We looked down from the platform towards the rails and suddenly noticed the rats, hundreds of them scurrying around trying to avoid the wheels of the oncoming train.
 Age old craft skills. Photo: SUPPLIED |
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It was not the most romantic start for our day trip to the Taj Mahal, the world’s most glorious monument dedicated to the beauty of eternal love. The station was a colourful microcosm of Indian life, with jostling crowds of chattering, smiling locals at the ticket office, food sellers offering every conceivable choice of breakfast and dozens of homeless children asleep on the bridges spanning the platforms.
I was in the country to attend a conference and my energetic Indian colleagues suggested we leave Delhi behind for a day and make the 200km train journey south to the ancient city of Agra. We were soon speeding through the arid plains in the comfort of a first class carriage and attentive steward service.
After an hour, the train ground slowly to a halt and we left our seats to join a hushed crowd at the front of the train, surrounding a very sick engine, which clearly would go no further that day! By some Indian miracle, the ‘slow train to Agra’ appeared through the shimmering heat haze and trundled up beside us.
With whoops of delight, the express train was abandoned and everyone scrambled on board. We all squashed together on the hard wooden slatted seats and there was no more first class comfort. However, I was surrounded by much more interesting company and being the only foreigner in our carriage, soon became the centre of attention.
For the next two hours, I happily answered questions about the Queen and discussed the various merits of the English and Indian cricket teams. It was a wonderful but very slow journey!
We eventually disembarked at Agra station into the stifling heat and humidity of pre-monsoon India, with the temperature hovering around 46 degrees.
The city of Agra was founded in the 15th century but by the 17th, had become a Mughal Empire centre of excellence with construction of superb contemporary buildings, the most famous of which are the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. We first explored the narrow lanes of the city where skilled craftsmen inlay gemstones into white marble using techniques unchanged in half a millennium. Then, after enjoying a lunch of the spicy, aromatic local cuisine, we headed towards the world’s most beautiful building.
The Taj Mahal
However many pictures you have seen of the Taj Mahal, nothing quite prepares you for your first view of its stunning architecture, and for many, it is a truly emotional experience. Some of the most hardened travellers were dabbing moistened eyes whilst trying to comprehend the total perfection of the pristine white marble building in front of them.
The Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal on the banks of the River Yamuna as a mausoleum to enshrine the body of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He absolutely worshipped this lady and when she died in 1631 shortly after giving birth to their fourteenth child, he was totally distraught. He began construction soon after her death and it continued for 22 years with a work force of 20,000. The superb brilliant white marble was delivered from Rajasthan and other materials came from all over Asia, including 28 different precious and semi-precious stones. It is said that 1,000 elephants were involved in transportation activities.
We approached the building slowly, through the picturesque gardens, laid with reflecting pools designed to evoke the Islamic image of the Gardens of Paradise. The central dome soars to over 55m and looms ever larger and grander as you draw near. Only when you are close do you appreciate both its awesome magnitude and the extraordinary fine detail of the relief carving. It is wonderfully smooth to touch and highlighted by thousands of beautiful floral patterns inlaid with precious stones.
The play of light at different times of the day is an important decorative device and colours subtly change from soft grey and yellow to a pearly cream and dazzling white.
On entering the octagonal tomb chamber, we saw the famous marble screen decorated with precious stones of the highest quality. It is cut so finely that it is almost transparent and scatters a reverent dappled light across Mumtaz’s cenotaph in the centre and Shah Jahan’s next to it. Attendants illuminated the decorations for us, shining torches through the amazing translucent marble. The cenotaphs are only representations as the real coffins lie in an unadorned crypt directly below.
After leaving the tomb, we examined the four 40m high minarets. They are constructed at a slight angle, giving the overall distant view perfect symmetry and, in event of collapse in an earthquake, so that they will fall away from the tomb. The whole complex was amazingly peaceful and visitors ambled slowly around the gardens viewing the building from different directions.
Agra’s Red Fort
Time was running short before our return to Delhi and I was hurriedly taken to the nearby Red Fort to see and hear about the end of this famous love story. The Red Fort, just across the river from the Taj Mahal, is a prodigious fortified town that was meant to be the capital of the Mughal Empire. Surrounded by a huge double wall of red sandstone, it has battlements and towers set at regular intervals.
Soon after the Taj Mahal’s completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest in one of the Fort’s towers. It is believed that he died a broken man, trapped in the tower that had a picture perfect view of his wife’s final resting place. It was a tragic end to a heartbreaking love story.
The return train journey was smooth and uneventful and as we arrived at Delhi Station, the food sellers were still plying their trade and the homeless children were once again settling down for a night’s sleep on the bridges over the platforms. My day trip to the Taj Mahal had been an unforgettable experience, a rich and emotional discovery of the very best of Indian society, history, art, craftwork and culture.
If there is one building in the world that everybody should try and see before they die, this is it.
