Adventures in International Education

The world was still dark and (mostly) silent as our group left the Jaycee Palace Hotel in Agra and boarded electric carts for the Taj Mahal. Even at 0500, however, the pathways teemed with tourists, all walking past shuttered shops that sold souvenirs and food during the day. We were here to see the Taj Mahal in the first light of day.

Lonely Planet India (Travel Guide, 2017) quotes poet Rabindranath Tagore as saying the Taj Mahal is “‘a teardrop on the cheek of eternity.’” Britisher Rudyard Kipling felt the Taj Mahal embodied “‘all things pure.’” Emperor Shah Jahan, began building the monument to honor his wife Mumtaz Mahal, in 1632. Workers completed the memorial in 1653 but Shah Jahan “was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb and imprisoned in Agra Fort” until his death in 1653 (Lonely Planet).

Twenty thousand artisans from Europe and Central Asia created the marble screens and pietra dura (marble inlaid with precious stones). In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a World Heritage site because of its execution of Mughal architecture, representation of the Muslim dynasty, and combination of Islam, Persian, Turkish, and Indian styles (Wikipedia).

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We returned to the hotel for breakfast, rested for a few hours, then boarded the bus for lunch in Agra at Pinch of Spice, a return to New Delhi, and a Punjabi-themed cultural evening.