Wednesday 13 February 2019

A Teardrop On The Face Of Eternity - The Magnificent Taj Mahal



Namaste! Where on earth did the last five weeks go? 


With over a thousand photos to trawl through it's hard to know where to start with our travel tales but on the eve of St. Valentine's Day, I thought I'd kick off with our trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra in the Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the world's most beautiful building and an enduring monument to everlasting love built by a heartbroken Shah Jahan following the death of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, in 1631. 


If you're wondering, a teardrop on the face of eternity is how the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore described the Taj Mahal.

Mumtaz Mahal (1592 - 1631)
Prince Khurram, who in 1628 became Shah Jahan (meaning King of the World), was the eldest son of Jehangir, the fourth Mughal emperor of India and grandson of Akbar the Great. As a young prince Khurram was a regular visitor to the royal bazaar where, accompanied by a group of fawning courtiers, he'd flirt with the girls from high-ranking families who staffed the stalls there. In 1607 and aged just 16 years old he caught a glimpse of a girl hawking silk and glass beads. The girl was 15 year-old Arjumand Banu Baygam, a Persian princess and the daughter of the soon-to-be prime ministerIt was love at first sight. After speaking with her,  Shah Jahan went back to his father and declared that he wanted to marry her. 
 
Shah Jahan (1591 - 1666)


On March 27, 1612, after a five year wait, Prince Khurram and his beloved, to whom he gave the name Mumtaz Mahal "Chosen One of the Palace", were married. Mumtaz Mahal was not only beautiful, she was also intelligent and kind-hearted. The public was enamoured with her, in part because Mumtaz Mahal cared for the people, diligently making lists of widows and orphans to make sure they received food and money. 

In 1631, three years into Shah Jahan’s reign, a rebellion led by Khan Jahan Lodi was underway. Shah Jahan had taken his military out to the Deccan, about 400 miles from Agra, in order to crush the usurper. As usual, Mumtaz Mahal, who was always by Shah Jahan’s side, accompanied him, despite being heavily pregnant with their 14th child. On June 16, 1631, Mumtaz Mahal, in an elaborately decorated tent, gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the middle of the encampment. At first, all seemed to be well, but it was soon discovered that Mumtaz Mahal was dyingAs soon as Shah Jahan received news of his wife’s condition, he rushed to her side. In the early morning hours of June 17, 1631, Mumtaz Mahal died in his arms. Legend has it that she bound him with a deathbed promise to build her the most beautiful tomb ever known. Reports say that in Shah Jahan’s anguish, he went to his own tent and cried for eight days. Upon emerging it was said that his hair had turned completely white from his grief.


 In 1632 Shah Jahan undertook the task of erecting the world's most beautiful monument in the memory of his beloved. It took twenty-two years and the labour of 22,000 workers to construct Mumtaz Mahal's tomb. Marble was brought from Rajasthan and semi-precious stones for decoration - onyx, amethyst, lapis lazuli, turquoise, jade, crystal, coral and mother-of-pearl - were carried to Agra from Persia, Russia, Afghanistan, Tibet, China and the Indian Ocean.


 Eventually Shah Jahan's pious and intolerant son Aurangzeb seized power and the former emperor was interned in Agra Fort (more of that in later post) where, as legend would have it, he lived out his final years gazing wistfully at the Taj Mahal from his prison cell. When he died in 1666, his body was carried across the Yumuna River to lie alongside his beloved wife in his peerless tomb.


There are no words to do the Taj Mahal justice and it's impossible not to be overwhelmed by its beauty. The magic of the monument remains undiminished despite the crowds of tourists who visit (around 3 million a year), as small and insignificant as ants in the face of this immense mausoleum. 


 Taking the advice of the guide books we visited in the early morning, shortly after sunrise (hence the jackets and scarves we're wrapped up in) the mist had just started to clear and the marble was bathed in a soft red glow. As the surfaces fell into shadow and reflected the winter sunshine, the colours changed from a delicate dove grey and pale yellow to pearly cream and dazzling white. This play of light is said to be an important decorative device, implying the presence of Allah, never represented in physical form.








 For most visitors to India the Taj Mahal is the first port of call but it took us twenty years to get round to seeing it. It was worth the wait.




See you soon!

Linking to Patti and the gang for Visible Monday.




For the full album see HERE.

60 comments:

  1. OOOO! We went there on our honeymoon! Isn't it spectacular!
    xox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a fantastic place to spend a honeymoon! It was amazing, I'm surprised I didn't cry! xxx

      Delete
  2. wonderful!!
    we went there in our north india travels dec. 2009 - we stayed around it for almost a full day - i made so many pics. it was cold too...
    welcome back!!
    xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Beate! Dec 2009 - you were in the North and Jon and I were in Tamil Nadu!! xxx

      Delete
  3. Oh my word has it been that long. The Taj Mahal is on my bucket list... one day I will visit. They are beautiful photos.... love your dress too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Cherie! I think everyone needs to see the Taj Mahal once in their lives, I'll remember it forever. xxx

      Delete
  4. Welcome home! Thank you for the history of this most beautiful building, and your pics are marvelous. I love to see you and Jon with your arms around each other, gazing at the beauty of the Taj Mahal! Looking forward to more pics and stories of your trip, xox.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Patti! I never ever thought we'd get a photo on one of those benches - luck was on our side! xxx

      Delete
  5. Just incredible. Thanks for taking me there in pictures, Vix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Pao. The Taj Mahal definitely deserves to be called The World's Most Beautiful Building. xxx

      Delete
  6. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gosh....that gave me goosebumps. What a magnificent story and what such amazing pictures.
    Thank you for that Vix.
    Hugs-x-

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, thank you for giving us the history of the Taj Mahal. As many pictures as I’ve seen of it, I didn’t know the story behind it. It really is magnificent. Gosh imagine having 14 children though, I nearly spit my cup of tea everywhere.
    It’s wonderful that you can tick it off the list now. I think it makes your visit more special because you’ve waited so long.
    Lovely to have you back. Lots of love to you both xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, 14 children, you can tell that there was no TV in those days!! xxx

      Delete
  9. Just beautiful! I loved hearing the history. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very beautiful - and greats shots of you two!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an apt observation --"teardrop". Thanks for relaying the beautiful story!

    ReplyDelete
  12. it's so beautiful. The people are truly dwarfed by the building. I had no idea it was so huge!

    ReplyDelete
  13. So glad you're back, have missed your posts. A great subject for Valentines! The Taj Mahal is on my bucket list, you have taken some beautiful pictures. I thought it was one of the seven wonders of the world but went to check, it's one of the modern 7/nominated whatever that means - it is almost supernatural in its significance, beauty and presence. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought the same about the Seven Wonders of the World. IT's certainly magnificent and ridiculously lovely. You have to go! xxx

      Delete
  14. I have to admit that I had no idea of the story behind the Taj Mahal, but it's very moving, and so is the "teardrop on the face of eternity" quote. Even after having seen hundreds of pictures of it, I'm still awestruck by its beauty, and I cannot even begin to imagine how magical it must have been to see it for real and at close quarters. Fabulous pictures of you two as well, siting on the Princess Di seat! xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can you believe we got to sit on that seat!!! As a friend on Facebook pointed out, we looked a lot happier than Princess Di.
      I'm so happy that we've finally seen it, I'm think I did really well not to cry at it! xxx

      Delete
  15. What a wonderful story and so tragic. It's dreadful to think that still, in some parts of the world including the UK, women still die in childbirth.

    It is a magnificent building and you and Jon look right at home! It's good to have back, Vix. I look forward to hearing more of your adventures.
    xxxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Such a sad story - one of the most powerful (and richest) men in the world and he couldn't save his beloved wife. What a tribute though. xxx

      Delete
  16. Hooray, Vix is back! Thank you for the gorgeous pictures of the Taj Mahal and of you and Jon, looking all lovey. I knew a small bit of the history of this amazing building, but thank you for the full story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the warm welcome, lovely lady! xxx

      Delete
  17. So glad you're back! How incredible it must have been to see the Taj Mahal. Am looking forward to all your photos from the last month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!! There's a lot more to come..be afraid, be very afraid! xxx

      Delete
  18. Fascinating description of the changing effects of morning light!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Welcome home Vix and thank you for your wonderful pictures of the most wondrous Taj Mahal. It takes me back to my visit there in early December, 1975, except for the visiting hoardes, it was quieter then. A true love story isn't it .xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It must have been wonderful to have seen the Taj Mahal in relative solitude. I was chatting to another regular India traveller recently and we've both observed the rise in popularity of sight-seeing by domestic tourists. It's fabulous that the rise of the middle class has enabled so many thousands of Indians to travel but frustrating when there's thousands of people wanting selfies! xxx

      Delete
  20. woww, so lovely to see you back home and making a grand entrance with the breathtaking Taj Mahal!! such wonderful pictures, the atmosphere and the changing colors have to be impressive!. And you look so fabulous!, elegantly wrapped in your jackets, posing on a perfect background! Lovely to see your pictures and looking forward to see more of them!
    besos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Monica! It was very odd wearing jackets in India and being cold! xxx

      Delete
  21. Some places are tourists hotspots for good reason, and that looks like one of those - somewhere that just HAS to be seen. Hopefully I'll make it one day. I went to Aurangzeb's tomb near Aurangabad; it's a modest site in a very peaceful mosque - though he did build a sort of 'mini-Taj' as his wife's tomb. That's not made of marble, though. The light hitting the Taj must be something beautiful to watch changing.

    Welcome back! It's good to see you and Jon again, and i'm looking forward to hearing about your fabulous adventures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can completely understand the reason why the Taj Mahal is so enduringly popular and I was pleasantly surprised by how the masses of other tourists seemed so insignificant against the Taj Mahal's beauty.
      There's quite a few places in Maharashtra I'm keen on seeing, Aurangabad being one of them and the vineyards another! xxx

      Delete
  22. What a magnificent tomb, a true testimony of love! I remember watching one documentary about Taj Mahal. There are quite a few historical records of this great love, supposedly she never left his side. This love story, both documented and legendary, is certainly very inspiring.

    Your photographs are so beautiful. Taj Mahal looks like a vision of white against the blue. Coming early in the morning sounds like a great tip. I'm sure that the play of light is wonderful to witness there. Thank you for sharing.

    You and Jon both look very stylish and lovely. This is a great post for Valentine's day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ivan, I'm glad you enjoyed my alternative Valentine's Day post. I think there's a couple of Bollywood films about the Taj Mahal, I haven't seen them but I'm keeping my eyes peeled for them now! x

      Delete
  23. How is it that I never knew the story of the Taj Mahal. How incredibly sad! Poor him. It looks utterly beautiful and how nice to see you and Jon there!x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny, isn't it? We all know the Taj Mahal but hardly any of us are familiar with the sad story behind it. x

      Delete
  24. Wow, what an interesting story for such a beautiful building.
    You and Jon look SO happy. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you enjoyed the story of the Taj Mahal, Jess! x

      Delete
  25. You are such a good raconteur Vix! Truly lovely photos, it has an ethereal quality! xx

    ReplyDelete
  26. It's nice to know that something that has been hyped as a "must-see" tourist attraction is actually worth the visit. It is an exquisitely beautiful building, and the story behind it's creation adds another level of attraction. Glad you finally made it, and took photos to show those of us who are unlikely to see it in person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that's why it look us so long to visit the Taj mahal, we were afraid that it might not have lived up the the hype, how wrong we were. I'd be happy to go back and see it again and again, it really was beautiful! xxx

      Delete
  27. Welcome home, it is good to 'see' you to help brighten February! What gorgeous photos, I love the ones of you two together, very romantic. I did know that the Taj Mahal was a tomb, but didn't know the full back story - thanks for sharing the details. Very interesting place, I can tell just from the photos that it has a 'presence'. Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I could say that it was good to be back but it could be worse, at least we've had some lovely Spring-like weather.
      The Taj Mahal really was beautiful, that first glimpse will live with me forever! xxx

      Delete
  28. It's so beautiful. I knew the bare bones of the story but not a lot of the detail. Thanks for sharing.
    xx

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading and for leaving a message. Please don't be anonymous, I'd love it if you left a name (or a nom de plume).

Lots of love, Vix