ITC Mughal in Agra (Tuesday 17-Feb-2015)

Our hotel in Agra seemed almost a compound as opposed to just a hotel. There was a Taj viewing terrace but it was too hazy for us to see the Taj when we went up to look. 

From that terrace, the view of a portion of the hotel was beautiful. In the truly incongruous style of India, we could hear both Indian music and the Indian cover of a song that made us both laugh but can't remember which song now, less than 24hrs later! Blame it on information overload . . .

The lobby was well done - Melissa and I are both big fans of the intricate patterns found just about everywhere we've been in India. 

The Taj at Sunset (Tuesday 17-Feb-2015)

Our first direct view of the Taj came around sunset. We walked with our guide on a little path near what looked to be a farm - you can see a scarecrow in the field - Melissa and I both took notice of it.

We walked past the Garden where Emperor Shah Jahan intended to build his own memorial in black, because he was so lost after the death of Mumtaz Mahal. He never built it because he was under house arrest by his son for spending so much money building the Taj. We took the path directly to the edge of the river bed, passing dogs, a camel and a Buddhist camp.

The Taj was built on the river but since it is the dry season there isn't much water. 

Even from across the river, the Taj is impressive. It is definitely one of those places that is much more amazing in person and photography doesn't do it justice. 

Monkeys at the Baby Taj (Tuesday 17-Feb-2015)

When we were getting to leave the baby Taj, our guide told us to sit and enjoy for a few minutes. While sitting in the bench and chatting, one monkey walked by. Then the next thing we knew it was a monkey parade! There were monkeys crossing from one side of the complex to the other and climbing all over. Most of the monkeys didn't seem to care about the people around - only one baby monkey was upset when it's mom (or dad - it was hard to tell from where we were) put it down, and the baby started screeching until another monkey hovered over it. Melissa took a video but I can't seem to upload it through the blog so these pics will have to do!

Tuesday 17-Feb-2015: Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, aka "Baby Taj"

After a long and interesting drive from Delhi, complete with our first roadside cow sightings and constant, liberal and very necessary use of honking horns due to the frenetic Indy 500 pace of cars, auto rickshaws, vans, motorbikes, horse drawn carts, trucks and pedestrians along the way...plus oh, you know, a monkey jumping on top of our car to have a staredown with Karen through her passenger side window, we (thankfully) arrived safely in Agra late Tuesday afternoon to do a quick check-in at our hotel ITC Mughal, meet our Agra guide, and head for the "Baby Taj".

This is the nickname of the exquisite tomb of Mizra Ghiyas Beg, a Persian nobleman who was Mumtaz Mahal’s grandfather. (Mumtaz Mahal was the favorite wife of Emperor Shah Jahan--it was for her that the actual Taj Mahal was built.) Built between 1622 and 1628, the tomb is said to be the template on which the Taj Mahal is based. This was the first Mughal structure built completely from marble and the first tomb to be built on the banks of the Yamuna River, which until then had been a sequence of beautiful pleasure gardens....in which countless monkeys roam freely---but more about the monkeys later!

While it doesn’t have the same scale and majesty as the Taj, it was really beautiful. Karen and I fell in love with all the inlay work of semiprecious stones in the marble on both the walls and ceilings, as well as the various inlaid patterns on the floors modeled after designs of Persian rugs.

Tuesday 17-Feb 2015: Sikandra, Agra [Corrected: with pics]

En route from Delhi to Agra we stopped for a self-guided tour of Sikandra, burial place of Emperor Akbar.  We were greeted by large numbers of green parrots,  the likes of which we saw in Delhi too. The impressive mausoleum made of red sandstone and marble inlaid with slate and colored stone is surrounded by 4 gates facing the 4 compass directions as well as gardens of flowers and roaming antelope, divided into 4 equal parts said to represent the "4 quarters of life."  As we learned this from reading a travel book and had no tour guide to explain what those quarters actually are, we left still not knowing.  Karen offered a deep theory that they would be the four parts of one's life: family work country and religion...while I based my interpretation on the not quite as deep model of the chronological flow of a football game:  kickoff (birth), 1st half (youth), 2nd half (aging), and final whistle (well, that would be death).
So like many things so far we move on from Sikandra with more questions than answers about this wondrous country. ..

Tuesday 17-Feb-2015: Lotus Temple, Delhi

The Baha'i Temple is probably the most modern building we'll see while in India. Unsurprisingly, it is also called the Lotus Temple as the design was inspired by the lotus flower, with 27 petals emerging from 9 pools, symbolizing the 9 spiritual paths of the Baha'i faith, which originated in Persia and view humanity as one single race.

We've seen lotus flowers represented everywhere here in India, and we love it!

(Photo by Melissa, post written by Karen)

Tuesday 17-Feb-2015: The Yoga Studio, Delhi

A few years back, this whole trip idea came to me in a dream I had about Karen and I going to India to practice yoga, so it seemed like we should actually do some yoga while we are here!  We practiced Tuesday morning at a yoga studio in Delhi...every so often I would smell the incense and hear the music and become mindful of a singular thought:  We are in India...doing Yoga!  At one point Kar and I smiled at each other and I was pretty sure she was thinking the same thing too:)