A Rendevous with Taj Mahal

What happens when you have an enterprising brother studying in IIT Kanpur and you are to visit him with your parents? Well, you visit not only IITK but Agra and Lucknow which happen to be close by. And that’s exactly what I did from Sept 30^th to Oct 2^nd, 2007. I know I am a month late in describing my adventures, but hey, don’t blame me, blame my rather hectic work schedule and MBA applications. So, get set for a trip seeped in history and architecture as I take you through my tour of the exquisite Taj Mahal.

Me and my parents started from Mumbai at 4:30 pm. We took the Agra Lashkar express which starts from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus – erstwhile Kurla terminus at 4:25 and reaches Agra at 12:45 the next day. An enjoyable and quite a relaxed journey this was. We arrived at Agra Cantt station slightly later than the scheduled time but we were in no hurry. We haggled for the rickshaw fare and managed to get a rickshaw to take us to our hotel in 60 rupees. As a rule of thumb, in Agra, all rickshaws charge 10 rupees per person and the minimum is 30 rupees, whatever the distance – atleast this is what we experienced. We were staying at Howard Park Plaza - a four star hotel at about 900 rupees per person. We had booked through travelguru and I think we had a great deal for the hotel. There are many cheaper options available in Agra, but since I was traveling with my parents, we decided on a more comfortable one. My brother was to join us from Kanpur at about 3 in the afternoon in Agra but his train was delayed and he managed to reach Agra only by 6 in the evening. As soon as he landed, he was immediately whisked away for a walk to Taj Mahal. We were running against time as the last tickets are sold till 6:30 pm and the place closes down at 7:00 pm.

It was twilight by the time we reached. The entrance of this monument was so magnificient that we were completely blown away. We walked slowly with great anticipation and what met our eyes was the most majestic, beautiful and overwhelming sight we had ever seen. We were looking at Taj Mahal. We could not take our eyes off the monument despite huge crowds thronging the area. It was turning dark and we had to decide if we would want to go inside the monument today or wait until tomorrow. Me and my mom could not wait and dragged both the men inside the monument. As you approach the main structure, the monument grows on you, almost intoxicating you with its splendor. Intricate carvings, Persian writings, beautiful creepers, I wish I could describe this place in words.

We were so enchanted by the beauty of Taj Mahal that the visual stayed with us all night. We got up early next morning to sink into the beauty of this wonder to our hearts content. We reached Taj Mahal at 7 in the morning and I could not stop clicking pictures. We took pictures of Taj Mahal from various angles. We sat in the huge courtyard for quite sometime and admired the beauty of this monument which gleamed in the soft sunlight. It was 8:30 when we finally left as our tummies were rumbling for breakfast. Breakfast was complimentary and we stuffed ourselves to the brim.

We were to visit Fatehpur Sikri and Agra fort that day. We hired an A/C indica car at 900 rupees to take us to Fatehpur and back. The car had to be parked at the outskirts of Fatehpur and we had the options of either a Tonga or a CNG bus. We opted for the royal Tonga experience. We had hired a guide here for 250 rupees who showed us around Fatehpur. Fatehpur is a red sandstone complex with the only white structure being Salim Chisti’s dargah. The complex houses a mosque, a school and a dargah, all of which are functional till date. The structure was beautiful with the most interesting aspect being the intricacy of the jaalis at Salim Chisti's dargah. We took some fun pictures there with the family as our guide entertained us with the history behind each structure.

We head back to Agra to gorge on thalis at a restaurant called “ONLY” which interestingly offered both veg and non-veg in the same thali. It was decent, simple fare. We were to relieve our car there, however we had a kind soul as our driver - Manek and he agreed to take us to Agra Fort and to Sadar Bazaar for another 200 rupees. Agra Fort is this huge edifice made of red sandstone with beautiful structures of red sandstone and marble housed inside. We visited Jehangir’s bath tub – quite literally, which was put in full public view. We ditched the guide here and roamed about on our own. The fort is a huge complex and mind you it can get tiring as there are lots of structures to be seen inside. Each better than the other. It also has some wonderful gardens which have been maintained very well. You can see Taj Mahal from everywhere in this fort.

Having had our fill of history and mogul architecture, we hit the local market called Sadar Bazaar. Interestingly, all the four of us bought shoes from this market. The market is like any town market with branded and non-branded shops but the narrow alleys have some great options for street shopping of flip-flops, sandals and heeled shoes for the ladies. There are two such alleys in the beginning of the market, the second one does not have as many stalls as the first, but the shoes available in the second one were fantastic. This is what I bought for myself and I have never seen such shoes anywhere in Mumbai. I think they are ultra cool.

With our feet getting weary, we decided to call it a day and head back to our hotel. We had our train at 11:30 in the night for Kanpur. Our good driver dropped us back at the hotel and agreed to pick us up, take us for dinner and drop us to Agra Cantt station for an extra 150 rupees.Manek, bless his soul, hope he gets everything he desires in life as he made our journey so very comfortable and enjoyable!!

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