Taj Mahal

Yesterday morning we left our hotel rooms in New Delhi early and hired a driver to take us down to the Taj Mahal. You may have heard of the 7 Wonders of the World, of which the Taj is one of those.

The Taj Mahal sits in the city called Agra about 4 hours drive to the south of New Delhi. The drive down was mostly country mixed in with a town or two along the way. I still cannot get over the driving here in India! There basically are no rules and everyone honks at everyone. On the way down at one of the check points we saw a snake charmer with a live cobra snake. It was something out a Walt Disney movie for sure.

We arrived at the Taj Mahal around 11am. A young Muslim boy names Zeshon (pronounced Zee - Shawn) offered to be our tour guide for 20 rupies (.60 U.S. cents). The Taj Mahal is amazing and these pictures do not do it justice.

Here is a picture split three ways of the Taj, our tour guide (middle), and my work associate with the tour guide.

King Shahjahan hired 20,000 workers to build the Taj Mahal which took 22 years to complete. It is made of marble from Pakistan brought on the backs of elephants. The laborers etched the marble by hand then layed in precious stones. Even by today's standards it is amazing craftsmanship.

There are four pillars one each of the corners of the Taj. King Shahjahan ordered that these pillars be built slightly outward so that if a earthquake came they would fall outward and not on his wife's body inside the Taj.

When the Taj was completed King Shahjahan ordered the arms of the laborers be cut off so they could never produce a building so magnificent again. Muslims do not believe this occured and will deny its truthfulness. Zeeshawn, our tour guide, denied it and kind of began to be upset when we asked him about it.

Taj Mahal means Palace Crown or Crown Palace. It was started in1631 and completed 22 years later. Kings Shahjahan's body as well as his wife's are in the basement of the building. You cannot go to the basement, however, he had built a replica of their caskets on the main floor. They asked that we not take pictures inside, so I cannot show that to you. It is considered a holy place by Muslims and we had take off our shoes prior to going in. Here are a few more pictures.

When we bought our tickets to go inside, there were two prices. One for citizens of India (Indians) and one for foreigners. Indians cost 20 rupees (.60 U.S. cents) while foreigners cost 750 rupees ($15.00 U.S. dollars). I thought it was funny how they have such a variance in costs depending upon one's nationality. I definitely don't think you cold do this in the U.S.

Only 4 days left and I will be home with my family. Love you all!

Ryan