Taj Mahal
The postcard pictures of Taj Mahal do not adequately convey the legend, the poetry and the romance that shroud what Rabindranath Tagore calls "a teardrop on the cheek of time".
It is best described by the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, as "Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones." It is a celebration of woman built in marble and that’s the way to appreciate it.
The Taj Mahal dates from the 17th century, as tomb for the favourite wife of Moghul-emperor Shah Jahan. She died at the birth of her 14th child in 1630. In grief, Shah Jahan decided to construct for her a monument to show his eternal love. It took 22 years to complete.
The Taj is situated in the city of Agra, on the banks of the Yamuna-river. It is enclosed in a garden amidst fountains and ornamental trees. The walled complex further includes two mosques and an imposing gateway.
Some sites Machu Pichu, The Pyramids, Petra are hard to review because they are so iconic, that there seems to be nothing more one can add. The Taj Mahal is another such WHS, which like the afore mentioned places, really does take one's breath away; such is the power of it's radiant marble symmetry.
Taj does not function just upon a grandiose scale, up close the exquisite workmanship stuns, the gardens are seductive, and the ancillary buildings shield you from what by comparison is the vulgar and mundane of the outside world. The whole ensemble is supposed to be a relisation of heaven on earth. Did they succeed? Well if you can go and decide for yourself, it might be the closest you get in this life to paradise. |
