A Day in Agra

It was last minute but I decided to go ahead and see the Taj Mahal. I left the station at 7:15am to Agra, arrived three hours later and paid for a taxi for the day. Automobiles are not allowed closer than ½ mile so I walked the rest of the way. I went in the West Gate into a beautiful square with ancient Mughal buildings. The Taj Mahal was magnificent but very different than Indian architecture. It was built by a foreigner, a Muslim, and it is flanked by two mosques. As a Muslim, he would not allow any images to be made, so it appears very plain with only Arabic calligraphy and some flowers to accent the white marble. This may seem boring to many but after seeing so many temples filled with images and intricate carvings that made your eyes tired with how busy they were, I enjoyed the Taj’s simplicity. The emperor built it as a memorial for his second wife. His fake coffin is in the middle of the Taj Mahal. It took over 20 years to complete. The central structure is made of translucent white marble which is why people talk about the different colours seen at different times in the day. The marble is also carved with flowers and inlaid with thousands of precious stones. The cornelian stone is red but when it receives light it glows as orange for a period of time. At night the Taj looks like a pale blue or even purple depending on the light of the moon, by morning the sun creates a golden glow. The gardens, pools and fountains around the Taj are also quite nice. As I promised to a customer from ASHA, I fed a cow for her. It was frustrating that I did not have much space left on my camera so I had to prioritize when taking photos that day.




Agra was the capital of the Mughal Empire and the emperor and his family lived inside Agra Fort. It was well fortified, had over 20 palaces inside and is one of the few forts still in use day by royalty. I enjoyed walking around inside because it has so much character after centuries of war, repair, additions, and renovations. We were not allowed to access certain parts of the fort. It is right next to the river Jamuna and you can see the Taj Mahal from it. There were temples and mosques inside and some gardens, which looked very British in their layout. Though it was wonderful to see, I was glad to take a break from walking around and return to the taxi.




My driver Saneer took me to some specialty shops sponsored by the government. I went to a textile place known around the world for their high quality, handmade Persian rugs. I looked at all their varieties but didn’t have Rs. 30,000 to spare so it was a short visit. The next place I went worked with marble, inlaying precious stones. They worked with three colours of marble: black, white and green. I was amazed at the intricacy of carving the marble, shaping the stones and setting them to create a smooth, polished surface-all by hand. Technically this was not a place to bargain, so I hesitated at first when I entered their shop of marble carvings, boxes, animals, etc. But when I found a small box that I like, I gave in a bargained for it-paying half of his original price. As we drove to the market, I had a chance to speak with Saneer more. He has been driving the cab for tourists for 11 years, is 33 and has four children-10, 9, 4, 1. He told me about the kids’ school, his new home, and the history of Agra. I enjoyed getting to speak with him. I decided to walk around the market on my own and let him return home early. The market was not impressive, so I walked to the train station. On the way, I decided to try cycling a rickshaw to see how different it was. The young driver was surprised at my request and said I did alright. Those drivers must have iron legs to earn a living off of that job! At the station I spoke with a few Indian families and one student in particular was excited to speak with an American. We shared a drink while waiting for the train discussing school, religion, cricket, girls…an interesting conversation to say the least.