Taz Mahal

The Taj Mahal was impressive. It was built by Shah Jahan as a memorial for his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. Her death left the emperor so grief stricken that it is said his hair turned grey overnight. Construction of the Taj started the following year, and was completed in 1653. Shortly, after the Taj Mahal and its complex was completed, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son and imprisoned in Fort Agra(which is next door), where the rest of his days were spent gazing over at his creation through a window. After his death he was buried inside the Taj Mahal alongside his beloved wife. We also toured the mosque that is situated next to the Taj. The whole complex is completed with beautiful landscaping and the Yamuna River running behind it.


A rickshaw driver drove us from the taxi through these narrow lanes to get to the Taj entrance gate. Foreigners pay a higher price for tickets, but also have the advantage to skip the line. Yahoo! The queue was a kilometer long!

The Taj is set in a complex. This is the outer building, and you must walk through it to get inside the grounds.

                                      The mosque

The rear side of the Taj. It sits on the banks of the Yamuna River.

Our guide gets a commission by taking us to a few shops after our tour. These men were demonstrating how the inlaid work on the Taj was done. Quite interesting!